Hummingbird Cake

There’s no better way to start a glorious sunny day than in the kitchen baking a cake to celebrate the long-awaited arrival of spring! I had come cross this wonderful recipe for Hummingbird Cake on my recent travels around blogs I regularly love to visit. Happy Cook from My Kitchen Treasures and Rosie from Rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake (but has now moved to Baking Cakes Galore) have both baked this cake with beautiful results, making me want to bake it too. Check out their beautiful blogs and their Hummingbird Cakes! This cake gets its dense richness from mashed bananas, pecans and crushed pineapple, and cream-cheese icing that's smeared top to bottom. Definitely a taste of heaven ready to tantalise your taste buds.

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients

1½ cups of self-raising flour

1 cup of caster sugar

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp cinnamon

¾ cup of flavourless oil

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Few drops of vanilla extract

¾ cup pecan nuts, chopped

2 large ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

½ cup of pineapple from a tin, drained and chopped finely

Cream cheese frosting (adapted to cover the whole cake)
1 x 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
450g (3 cups) icing sugar mixture
2 tsp milk
A few sprinkles (optional) I used sugarcraft daffodils

You will need a 20cm (8 in) round springform tin, lightly greased with a little butter and based lined with non-stick baking paper or greaseproof paper.

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. Sift the flour, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and sugar into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, vanilla extract, oil, nuts, banana and pineapple and stir until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until firm to the touch in the centre of the cake or a skewer inserted into the centre come out clean.

Leave the cake to stand in its tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the paper from the base of the cake and place onto a cake stand or plate to serve.

To make the cream cheese frosting, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Add the icing sugar and beat until well combined. Add milk and beat to combine.

Spread the cream cheese filling over the top of the cake and sides. Decorate with sprinkles etc if you wish.

Thanks Happy Cook for this lovely recipe!