Hummingbird cake – the strangest name I have heard for a cake so far. And there are several oddly named desserts out there – Dundee cake , shoofly cake , beesting cake , fools , cobblers , Eton mess and there is the spotted dick (!?!) of course .Though I always find it nice to dwell a little into the back stories of these cakes to find out how they came to be called so.
So WHY is the Hummingbird cake called the hummingbird cake? And no – Its not made from hummingbirds – just in case this thought crossed your mind ! This is a cake from South America. A recent one infact . The Southern living magazine first published a version of this cake in 1978 , which was submitted by Mrs LH Wiggins . One theory behind the name is that the inside looks like the hummingbird’s plumage. Another is that it makes you hum with happiness once you taste it !Some feel that people hover around the cake as the birds hover around flowers. And yet another story is that the cake is sweet enough to attract the hummingbird.
And sweet it is ! And slightly spiced . Sugar and spice. And everything nice.
These “nice” things usually include pineapple , bananas , pecans and sometimes coconut. My eggless hummingbird cake has stayed more or less true to these ingredients ( other than the fact that I skipped out on the eggs !) . I know the list seems like more star ingredients than usual batters have but lets see what makes a hummingbird cake hum , shall we?
Pineapple : I used fresh chopped pineapples instead of the crushed that most recipes asked for because I thought its easiest to use . If you have canned crushed pineapple ,go ahead and use it. Or just stick to finely chopped fresh fruit like me. Keep in mind that the pineapple chunks wont dissolve into the batter completely. So “finely” chopped !
Bananas : These go into the batter in the form that they usually go into most bakes – well ripened and mashed up .
Coconut : Again, the coconut that you use can be flaked , grated , fresh , dessicated , sweetened or unsweetened. I used fresh grated coconut here because again – that is whats most easily available to me.
Nuts : Which brings me to the nuts. I never have pecans on hand. I used toasted chopped walnuts instead .
Spices : Traditionally , the batter gets some cinnamon and nutmeg, sometimes all spice to balance out all the sweet stuff. I used a pinch of cinnamon because I have a irrational fear of spice overpowering the whole cake. Don’t be like me. Go bold !
Frosting : I did stick to the classic pairing of cream cheese frosting that is supposed to go great with hummingbird cakes. I used my trustworthy cream cheese frosting but I made far too much . In the recipe below , I have mentioned the details for only half the amount of frosting because all you need is a thin layer of it. In fact , I would even say that you can skip the frosting and serve it plain or dusted with icing sugar.
Eggless hummingbird cake
Ingredients
For the hummingbird cake :
- 150 grams banana 3 small
- 1/4 cup or 35 grams coconut fresh grated
- 1/2 cup or 80 grams pineapple
- 2/3 cup oil
- 1/4 cup yoghurt or curd
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 190 grams or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour maida
- 150 grams or 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/4 cup walnuts
For the cream cheese frosting :
- 28 grams or 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 grams or 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon or pinch salt
- 65 grams or 1/4 cup cream cheese at room temperature
Instructions
To make the hummingbird cake :
- Preheat your oven to 180 C or 350 F
- Butter and flour a 8 inch square pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (optional )
- Prepare the ingredients – peel and mash up the bananas .Chop the pineapple as finely as possible. Toast the walnuts on a hot pan for few minutes and chop irregularly.
- In a large bowl , whisk together the flour , sugar , salt , baking soda and cinnamon ( all dry ingredients )
- Add the oil, curd and mashed banana and whisk.
- Add in the chopped pineapple, coconut and walnuts and fold in or whisk until distributed.
- Pour batter into pan and smoothen top
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the cake is coming away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes, Unmould carefully and cool completely on a wire rack
To make the cream cheese frosting
- Beat the butter and salt well until butter is smooth
- Sift in about 1/3 of the icing sugar and beat well until smooth. You should feel no graininess
- Sift in and beat in well another 1/3 rd of the icing sugar . and then repeat with the remaining sugar.
- Once all the sugar is beaten in , add the cream cheese and beat until incorporated
- Your cream cheese frosting is ready to use . Slather on your cooled cake and serve !
Notes
This is not a light as air ,sponge type of cake . This is a hearty ,dense, moist cake with plenty of flavours and textures . I would especially recommend you trying out this cake if you like carrot cakes and banana cakes.
I made this eggless hummingbird as a sheet cake or slab cake style. Just a square. You can bake it in a round pan instead and even layer it. But for my personal taste , I would much prefer this cake as a single layer or loaf or even as muffins. Layers of it might just be too much of a good thing . But maybe that’s just me !
This is a moist cake with the feel of a great banana bread , juicy pine apple bits and some nuttiness thanks to the coconut. The crunchy walnut bits add crunch to an already interesting cake . I didn’t miss the spices much but they probably would have added an extra oomph !
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