Hummingbird cake

Hummingbird cake is a light, fluffy banana-based cake with warm spices and crushed pineapple. It’s one of those seasonless cakes that tastes as good in July as it does in December — it consistently hits the spot. It also happens to be one of my favorite cakes and I’ve never seen it in a kosher bakery, but thankfully it is pretty easy to make at home.

I love this cake with a fluffy cream cheese frosting, but the cake itself is pareve so you can make this with a margarine-based vanilla buttercream frosting if you’re serving it after a meat meal.

I like making sheet cakes because they’re easier to store and to transport when I’m responsible for bringing dessert, but this recipe can be made in two round cake pans if you prefer to make a layered cake — just double the frosting recipe.

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Pecans add depth and texture to this cake, but if you have a nut allergy you can omit them.

Ingredients

Hummingbird cake batter:
1 ½ cups mashed bananas, about 3-4 ripe bananas
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained — about 1 ½ cups
1 cup oil
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar, gently packed
4 large eggs
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¾ cup chopped pecans

Cream cheese icing, single layer:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 bar cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Optional garnish: whole or chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 F and place the wire rack in the center.

Lightly grease a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan before lining with parchment paper. This cake bakes best in a metal baking pan.

Drain the can of crushed pineapple in a mesh strainer. Most crushed pineapple comes in heavy syrup, but once it is drained just discard the syrup. Use a rubber spatula to press out extra syrup from the pineapple.
Mash and measure the bananas. Use ripe bananas; brown spots are fine, but don’t use blackened or frozen bananas.

Sift all dry ingredients together, chop the pecans and set both aside. Using cake flour as opposed to all-purpose flour improves the texture and crumb of the cake. If you don’t have cake flour, you can search online for how to use all-purpose flour with cornstarch as a substitute.

Combine the oil and sugars with a mixer at a medium-low speed.

Add the eggs one at a time until they are just mixed into the sugar and oil, then spoon the dry ingredients into the mixer.

Mix until just combined, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl, then mix on medium for about a minute, being careful not to overmix the batter.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, then add the drained pineapple, mashed bananas and pecans by hand with a spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until the edges of the cake pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

If you’re making a two-layer cake, grease the pans and cut parchment paper in a round shape to line the bottom of the pans only. Check the cake after about 25 minutes in the oven — otherwise the directions are the same.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan before turning it out. It can take up to 90 minutes for the cake to cool.

When cool, the top can look a little lumpy, so I put a cutting board over top of the cake and turn it onto the board so the bottom of the cake is now on top — this gives the cake a smoother appearance when frosted. The cutting board acts as a sturdy cake plate and it’s easy to cover the finished product with foil. You can make the cake a day before frosting it.

To make the cream cheese frosting:

Set the butter and cream cheese onto the counter to soften. You should be able to easily insert your finger into the butter and dent it, but you still want both ingredients to be slightly cool to the touch. If the butter is melting, stick it back in the fridge for a bit before using it. If the ingredients are too warm, the frosting won’t cream together well and it will fall a bit flat.

I use a hand mixer for frosting. Add the butter and cream cheese into a mixing bowl and mix well on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add a half-cup of powdered sugar at a time until well combined, then add fresh lemon juice. Raise the power to medium-high and mix for another 1-2 minutes or until nice and fluffy.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the icing before frosting the cake. You may need to let the frosting bowl sit on the counter for about 20 minutes for the icing to be spreadable. This may seem like an extra step, but it’s important to chill the cream cheese immediately after preparing it so it doesn’t separate.

This recipe makes just enough frosting to cover the top and sides of a sheet cake. Always double any frosting recipe when making a layered cake.

To store, make a bit of a tent with foil and loosely cover the cake. If your home is warm, it is best to store this in the refrigerator.

Sheet cakes are easy to serve at a party. Cut the cake lengthwise down the middle and make 24 small slices, or 12-16 squares, depending on which size piece you’d like to serve.

When I bake with nuts, I usually garnish the top with nuts so it’s obvious to those with nut allergies.

I hope that you like this cake as much as my family does. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.