Hummingbird Cake
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats, NYT Cooking and King Arthur Baking.
A moist, spiced Southern-style layer cake built on banana, pineapple and toasted pecans, stacked with cream cheese frosting between the layers.
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Method
- 1
Preheat the oven. Heat the oven to 175°C (155°C fan) with a shelf in the middle (or two, staggered, if needed), giving it at least 20 minutes to reach temperature before baking three cake layers.
- 2
Toast the pecans. Spread all the pecans on a tray and toast for 8 minutes, until fragrant, then leave to cool before chopping all but the 12 halves set aside for decoration. Toasting first brings out more of their flavour than adding them raw.
- 3
Mix wet and dry separately. Whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt together in one bowl. In another, whisk the eggs and sugar, then stir in the oil and vanilla, followed by the mashed banana and the tinned pineapple with its juice.
- 4
Combine gently. Stir the dry mixture into the wet ingredients just until no flour is visible, then fold in the chopped pecans. Don't beat the batter here – a light hand is what keeps this dense, fruit-packed crumb tender rather than heavy.
- 5
Bake the layers. Divide the batter evenly between the three tins and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out and leave to cool completely on a rack.
- 6
Make the cream cheese frosting. Beat the butter until smooth, then add the cream cheese and beat only until combined, since overbeating it makes the frosting too soft to hold its shape. Mix in the icing sugar, vanilla and salt on low speed until smooth, chilling for 15 minutes if it feels soft.
- 7
Stack and frost. Stack the three cooled layers with a generous layer of frosting between each, then spread the rest over the top and sides with a palette knife. Press the reserved pecan halves around the top to decorate.
- 8
Chill and serve. Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve, then let it sit out briefly to come back towards room temperature – this softens the frosting and brings the spices back into focus.
Storage
Keep the frosted cake in the fridge, loosely covered, for up to 4 days, bringing slices back towards room temperature before serving. Unfrosted sponge layers freeze well, wrapped tightly, for up to 2 months.
Equipment
- three 20 cm round cake tins (5 cm deep), greased and base-lined
- 2 large bowls and a whisk
- stand mixer or electric hand whisk
- wire racks
- palette knife
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 711 kcal |
| Protein | 7.2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 76.9 g |
| of which sugars | 52.6 g |
| of which free sugars | 46 g |
| Fat | 43.2 g |
| of which saturates | 14.8 g |
| Fibre | 2.4 g |
| Salt | 0.89 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
1 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
