Hummingbird Cake with Creamcheese Frosting

Have your seen the price of bananas lately? I feel like I need a bank loan just to afford a little banana with my morning porridge. Even general groceries seem to be skyrocketing in price. It gets scary knowing your food budget is tightening.

But life is extra tough for others. Did you know that one billion people go to bed hungry every night. One billion. Crazy, huh? Chronic hunger and poverty are big problems that Oxfam is aiming to combat with their Stop Hunger Appeal. This year’s focus is on providing sustainable, drought-resistant crops to Africa, so that families can generate an income. With time, the hope is for the poverty-cycle to be broken.

Here’s where the humble pineapple comes in. Pineapples not only look tough and mean on the outside, they’ve got fighting spirit on the inside too. Pineapple crops are extremely drought-resistant, proudly defying harsh conditions with their middle-finger frond firmly in the air. They’re the Chuck Norris of fruits, really, roundhouse-kicking poverty to the kerb.

A free cookbook containing pineapple recipes has been released by Oxfam to raise awareness of their Stop Hunger Appeal. Contributors include Neil Perry of Rockpool, Matt Kemp from Balzac and myself. Hurrah! Please download a copy and pass on the pineapple love to friends and family.

My pineapple recipe is an American Hummingbird Cake. It’s basically a pimped-out banana cake, with added chunks of pineapple, pecans and slatherings of cream cheese frosting to sandwich the whole delicious thing together. Bake it, eat it, and contemplate how awesome Pineapple really are.

HUMMINGBIRD CAKE (BANANA & PINEAPPLE)

You Will Need:

300g Caster Sugar
3 Large Eggs
300ml Vegetable Oil
3 large ripe Bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, plus 1 teaspoon for decorating
300g Plain Flour
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate Soda
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g tinned Pinapple, diced
100g Pecan Nuts, chopped, plus 50g for decorating

Frosting:

600g Icing Sugar
100g Unsalted butter, softened
250g Cream Cheese, cubed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and line two 20-cm round cake tins.

In a large bowl mix the caster sugar, eggs, mashed banana, oil and cinnamon with an electric mixer or a handheld whisk until well combined. Add the salt, vanilla and bicarbonate soda. On slow speed, add the flour a little at a time and beat until just mixed.

Using a wooden spoon, gently stir in the pecans and pineapple pieces.

Pour half of the batter into each cake tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed. Let the cakes cool briefly in the tins, then turn them onto a wire rack and allow them to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the cream cheese frosting. Beat the icing sugar and softened butter together until you get a sandy texture, using a paddle attachment if you have an electric mixer. With the beaters still running, slowly add the cubed cream cheese. It might look really dry at first, but as the cream cheese softens further you’ll see a dramatic change to a soft creamy frosting. Continue to beat on medium-high speed for at least 5 minutes to fluff the frosting.

To assemble, slice the domes off both cakes so that you have a flat and even surface. Sandwich the cakes together with a 1 cm thick layer of cream cheese frosting. Then use a spatula to cover the entire sides and top of the cake. Finish with whole and chopped pecans and a dusting of cinnamon.

Recipe adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

Tagged as: Banana, Caster sugar, Cinnamon, Cream cheese, Eggs, Icing sugar, Nuts, Pecan, Pineapple