Hummingbird Cake

Ahh Hummingbird Cake, the beautiful combination of pineapple and banana covered in cream cheese icing! I don't think I have ever made one before now but my mother has made it for my family more than once. A little out of the ordinary for me but I wanted to try out some icing techniques and thought something a little exotic would do nicely.

I found this icing technique on Pinterest and just had to give it a go. Although it uses a fair bit of icing, it is very simple to do and the result is quite impressive.

Hummingbird Cake

Recipe adapted from Leela Bean Bakes

What you will need

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup Canola oil

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cup mashed bananas, about 3

225g crushed pineapple

1 cup finely chopped pecans

2 tsp vanilla

Icing

Adapted from OurBestBites

750g cream cheese

3/4 cup butter

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

2tsp vanilla 

Toasted coconut

What you will need to do

Preheat your oven to 180*C. Line two cake tins the same size and set them aside.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. In a separate bowl, combine the sugars and eggs and whisk together. Next, add the oil and whisk until uniform in consistency. Then whisk in the mashed bananas and crushed pineapples, followed by the vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and fold together. Then fold the pecans into the batter. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter into your prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. Let your cakes cool slightly in the tin then turn out onto a cooling wire.

To make the icing, beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and whisk until smooth.

When the cakes have cooled completely, put a layer of icing on top of one and top with the second cake. Next do a crumb coat of icing all over the cake and put in the fridge.

When the icing has set, bring out the cake.

Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top of the cake.

Place the remaining icing into a piping bag fitted with an inch size round nozzle. Pipe 3 round blobs of icing down one side. 

Using an off set spatula the same size as the blob, press and drag the blob so it goes from thick to thin.
Repeat for each blob and then repeat with another row until you go around the whole cake. Finish off with 8 rounded blobs on the top and garnish each with a pecan.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

To me, Red Velvet Cupcakes are just pure indulgence. The soft, dense crumb is so smooth and luxurious. The hint of chocolate against the sour notes of the cream cheese icing is balanced well. And the colour, well the sensational boldness of the red is an eye catcher every time. Pretty much I feel like royalty in the presence of Red Velvet Cupcakes! 

I made these as a practice run for a party that is coming up, and I must say I am super impressed by the recipe. I used a recipe from Joy of Baking and although it didn’t make many, they were so divine it was probably a good thing because between me and D we ate them all in a day. 

At the time of decorating I couldn’t decide between a round or star piping nozzle but now I think the star one looks better. In hindsight I would try to use less icing on the cupcakes as I went a little overboard and I don’t want to the icing to overpower the cupcake itself but just compliment it. I also added sprinkles for decoration but I am still undecided as to wether I will use them for the party I guess it will depend on what papers I use.

This recipe calls for Cake flour which isn’t exactly readily available to the home baker but there is a way you can substitute it. Basically Cake flour has less protein than bread flour and so for every cup of Cake flour you need, use 3/4 cup plain flour + 2 tbsp corn flour.

All in all this recipe is dead easy and the finished product is gorgeous. Give it a go and you won’t be disappointed.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Adapted from Joy of Baking, icing adapted from Baking Better

What you will need

1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup or 57g unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp red food colouring
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda

250g cream cheese, room temperature
125g butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
Sprinkles

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 175*C and line 12 muffin tins with cupcake papers. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, beat butter until soft then add sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Scrape down bowl sides and add vanilla, beat until well combined.

In a small bowl whisk buttermilk and red food colouring. Mixing slowly, add the buttermilk and flour mixture alternately until just combined. In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda and let it fizz before adding it to the cake mix. Fold in quickly.

Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake papers and smooth over the tops with the back of the spoon. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 18 - 23 minutes or until tops spring back when touched or toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in the pan for 10 minutes then remove and place on wire rack. Make sure they are completely cooled before icing. To make the icing, beat the butter until soft then add the icing sugar. This mix with be pretty stiff, add the vanilla and salt and beat until creamy. Add the cream cheese and mix until just combined and you cannot see any lumps. Don’t over mix or your icing will become liquid. I let my icing cool in the fridge for a bit to harden up a bit before piping but you can pipe straight away. Fill a piping bag fitted with your preferred shape and pipe swirls of icing onto the cupcakes. Finish with sprinkles if desired.