Hum...Hum...Hum...

I finally did the Hummingbird Cake yesterday. This has been on my to-do-list ever since I saw Rei bake hers.



I adjusted the recipe from Joy of Baking. It was an easy recipe to follow, needed no electric mixer for the cake. The texture of the cake was very much like that of the American Carrot Cake, reminded me of the carrot cake I had at Coffee Bean a few weeks ago.

I topped it with Lemon Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting. I thought a tangy frosting will go well with the cake, to take the sweetness off a little.

Hummingbird Cake
Serve 18

Dry Ingredients
80g pecans, toasted and finely chopped (Being lazy, I skipped the toasting)
280g plain flour
180g fine sugar
2/3 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
2/3 tsp ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs, lightly beaten
*120ml Camellia oil
2/3 tsp pure vanilla extract (I do not have this, so I've added my remaining vanilla powder to the dry ingredients)
150g can crushed pineapple, do not drain (I use my VM to blend it coarsely)
1 & 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (4-5 medium sized bananas)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line the bottom of two 6" square pans.
2. In a mixing bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients and set aside.
3. In another mixing bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together until well mixed.
4. Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.
5. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for 25-35 mins until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and let the cakes cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and baking paper and cool completely before frosting.

Note: *I've used organic Camellia oil as I've got a bottle lying in the fridge and not too sure how to finish it. It gave a very nice fragrance. You can use normal corn oil.


Frosting Ingredients
28g unsalted butter, room temperature
135g cream cheese, room temperature
125g icing sugar, sifted
2 & 1/2 tsp lemon juice
25g finely chopped pecans

Method
1. Cream butter and cream cheese together at low speed until smooth with no lumps.
2. Add the lemon juice and cream for 10-15 secs until incorporated.
3. Gradually add sifted icing sugar and beat at low speed until well incorporated.
4. Stir in pecans and mix well.

Note: If the frosting is too runny, leave it in the fridge for about an hour before frosting.


To assemble, slice each cake horizontally into two pieces. Place a piece, un-cut side down, on your serving plate. Spread the top with the cream cheese frosting. Gently place the other cake layer, un-cut side up, onto the frosted layer and spread some frosting on the top of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for about one hour so the frosting has time to set. Repeat the same for the other cake.

To serve, cut each cake into 9 square pieces. You can garnish each piece with a pecan half.


Mood: satisfied