Hummingbird Cake

This was the dessert I made for the Southern themed dinner hosted by my friend Gina for our dinner group.  This was a really delicious (and surprisingly easy) cake to make.  I thought that I would have tasted the pineapple but perhaps it was just there to provide moisture.  I heard that this is also made with coconut which would have been delicious. I'm not sure why the directions say to add the pecans to the frosting.  That seemed a little strange to me so I just chopped them up and added them around the sides. This was a wonderful dessert that I'd make again!
 

Humming Bird Cake

From JoyofBaking.com

Ingredients:

1 cup (110 grams) pecans

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour

2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup (180 ml) safflower, corn, or canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) can crushed pineapple, do not drain

2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium sized bananas)

Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound box (454 grams) (about 3 2/3 cups) powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (55 grams) finely chopped pecans


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.

Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop finely.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.

In another large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, pineapple, mashed bananas, and finely chopped pecans. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and cream cheese, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the finely chopped pecans.

To assemble: place one cake, top side down, onto your serving platter. Spread with about a third of the frosting. Gently place the other cake layer, top of cake facing up, onto the frosting, and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish with pecan halves. Refrigerate the cake for about one hour so the frosting has time to set.

Serves 10 - 12 people.

Hummingbird Cake

This was the dessert I made for the Southern themed dinner hosted by my friend Gina for our dinner group.  This was a really delicious (and surprisingly easy) cake to make.  I thought that I would have tasted the pineapple but perhaps it was just there to provide moisture.  I heard that this is also made with coconut which would have been delicious. I'm not sure why the directions say to add the pecans to the frosting.  That seemed a little strange to me so I just chopped them up and added them around the sides. This was a wonderful dessert that I'd make again!
 

Humming Bird Cake

From JoyofBaking.com

Ingredients:

1 cup (110 grams) pecans

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour

2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup (180 ml) safflower, corn, or canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) can crushed pineapple, do not drain

2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium sized bananas)

Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound box (454 grams) (about 3 2/3 cups) powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (55 grams) finely chopped pecans


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.

Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop finely.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.

In another large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, pineapple, mashed bananas, and finely chopped pecans. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and cream cheese, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the finely chopped pecans.

To assemble: place one cake, top side down, onto your serving platter. Spread with about a third of the frosting. Gently place the other cake layer, top of cake facing up, onto the frosting, and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish with pecan halves. Refrigerate the cake for about one hour so the frosting has time to set.

Serves 10 - 12 people.

Blueberry Ricotta Cake

Found another great recipe from Stacey Snacks.  She found the recipe from the King Arthur Flour website and added some lemon zest to it.  I added the zest to mine too and really loved it. Stacey says to use fresh ricotta but I had some part skim ricotta I wanted to use up in my fridge and it worked just fine.  I'm sure the fresh ricotta will make it even better but don't shy away from trying this if you don't have it.  I prefer eating it at room temperature but when I brought some of it to work some people said they prefer it cold.  So you decide how you like it.  I love the crispy sugar top!

Blueberry Ricotta Cake
from Stacey Snacks

Ingredients:

Batter:
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
zest of a lemon
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Topping:
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan

For the batter: In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk, shortening, egg and vanilla, beating till smooth. Spoon the batter into a greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan Sprinkle the blueberries over the batter.

For the topping: In a small bowl, beat the eggs till frothy, then beat in the cheese, sugar and vanilla. Spread this mixture evenly over the blueberries.

Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until it's golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool to lukewarm before serving.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Blueberry Ricotta Cake

Found another great recipe from Stacey Snacks.  She found the recipe from the King Arthur Flour website and added some lemon zest to it.  I added the zest to mine too and really loved it. Stacey says to use fresh ricotta but I had some part skim ricotta I wanted to use up in my fridge and it worked just fine.  I'm sure the fresh ricotta will make it even better but don't shy away from trying this if you don't have it.  I prefer eating it at room temperature but when I brought some of it to work some people said they prefer it cold.  So you decide how you like it.  I love the crispy sugar top!

Blueberry Ricotta Cake
from Stacey Snacks

Ingredients:

Batter:
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
zest of a lemon
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Topping:
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan

For the batter: In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk, shortening, egg and vanilla, beating till smooth. Spoon the batter into a greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan Sprinkle the blueberries over the batter.

For the topping: In a small bowl, beat the eggs till frothy, then beat in the cheese, sugar and vanilla. Spread this mixture evenly over the blueberries.

Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until it's golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool to lukewarm before serving.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Marble Loaf Cake with Nutella

Recently I had the pleasure of making a new friend on Bakespace. Her name is Dajana and she lives in Italy. She posted a picture of a beautiful marble cake that she made and she swapped out the cocoa powder and used Nutella in it's place. Just seeing her photo and the word Nutella together convinced me that this non baker (that would be me) needs to bake this cake. I definitely panicked a bit because I had to convert the metric measurements to American Standard. I had some help from this lovely lady and some of my other wonderful Bakespace friends, like Shane of Culinary Alchemy. So, equipped with my conversions, Nutella and a couple of glasses of wine, I was ready to go. I'm going to blame it on the wine because I did not read the directions clearly and didn't whip the egg whites just sort of scrambled them. The result was a cake that sunk in the middle. It still tasted great but it was not perfect. Two days later, sans alcohol, I made this cake again. Well, this time it worked! Hooray! I am so proud of myself when I have baking success because, well, it's rare, but I don't mind!

Here's the recipe the way it was given to me originally and next to it I are the American Standard Conversions.

Ingredients:

250 g flour (2 cups)
150-200 g butter (14 Tbsp)
200 g sugar (1 cup minus 1 1/2 TBSP)
4 eggs, whites separated from the yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder / or Nutella

Directions:

1. Whisk the egg whites with a little salt until firm, and set aside.

2. Beat the yolks with sugar, add butter, vanilla and mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour with baking powder.

4. Add flour and egg whites to to the batter (alternating - a couple of spoons of flour, then a couple of spoons of egg whites). Mix everything well, and then divide the batter in two. Leave one half yellow, and add cocoa powder or Nutella to the other half.

5. In a bread pan, (greased and floured) alternate yellow and brown mixture. Bake for 40-50 mins at 180°C (350 F), or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Marble Loaf Cake with Nutella

Recently I had the pleasure of making a new friend on Bakespace. Her name is Dajana and she lives in Italy. She posted a picture of a beautiful marble cake that she made and she swapped out the cocoa powder and used Nutella in it's place. Just seeing her photo and the word Nutella together convinced me that this non baker (that would be me) needs to bake this cake. I definitely panicked a bit because I had to convert the metric measurements to American Standard. I had some help from this lovely lady and some of my other wonderful Bakespace friends, like Shane of Culinary Alchemy. So, equipped with my conversions, Nutella and a couple of glasses of wine, I was ready to go. I'm going to blame it on the wine because I did not read the directions clearly and didn't whip the egg whites just sort of scrambled them. The result was a cake that sunk in the middle. It still tasted great but it was not perfect. Two days later, sans alcohol, I made this cake again. Well, this time it worked! Hooray! I am so proud of myself when I have baking success because, well, it's rare, but I don't mind!

Here's the recipe the way it was given to me originally and next to it I are the American Standard Conversions.

Ingredients:

250 g flour (2 cups)
150-200 g butter (14 Tbsp)
200 g sugar (1 cup minus 1 1/2 TBSP)
4 eggs, whites separated from the yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder / or Nutella

Directions:

1. Whisk the egg whites with a little salt until firm, and set aside.

2. Beat the yolks with sugar, add butter, vanilla and mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour with baking powder.

4. Add flour and egg whites to to the batter (alternating - a couple of spoons of flour, then a couple of spoons of egg whites). Mix everything well, and then divide the batter in two. Leave one half yellow, and add cocoa powder or Nutella to the other half.

5. In a bread pan, (greased and floured) alternate yellow and brown mixture. Bake for 40-50 mins at 180°C (350 F), or until a toothpick comes out clean.