Hummingbird Cake
A Southern American cake of pineapple, bananas, and pecans with just a hint of cinnamon. White chocolate cream cheese frosting and pineapple curd make this version extra special!
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- 8-inch baking pans, 2 or 3
- Parchment paper
- Stand mixer or hand held mixer
- Piping bag with plain round tip (I used Ateco #806)
- Offset spatulas (for frosting the cake)
- Fine mesh sieve
- Round metal cookie cutter, 3 cm in diameter (optional, for pineapple flowers)
Ingredients
Hummingbird Cake
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups bananas, chopped (4-5 medium bananas)
- 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, in juice
- vegetable oil spray
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 18 oz cream cheese, room temperature (2 ¼ pkgs - Philadelphia brand recommended)
- 13.5 oz white chocolate (Valrhona Ivoire recommended)
- 9 oz unsalted butter (2 ¼ sticks)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pineapple Curd
- 4 cups pineapple juice
- ¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed and strained
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 whole eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (1 stick or 4 oz)
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp pineapple extract (optional)
Pineapple Slice Decoration
- 1 pineapple
Instructions
Make the Pineapple Curd
- Reduce the pineapple juice: Heat the juice over medium-low heat and allow to simmer and reduce down to 1 cup. This will take 30-60 minutes so you can work on the cake in the meantime. To make sure you don't reduce the juice too much (if your saucepan doesn't have measuring lines), keep a pyrex measuring cup near the stove and pour the juice into the cup to check how close it is to the 1 cup mark. If you still have too much juice, pour it back into the saucepan and simmer for 2 more minutes, check again, and repeat until you have the right amount. The juice will turn a golden brown and will thicken and caramelize--this is normal because of the high amount of sugar in pineapple.
- Remove the reduced pineapple juice from heat and allow to cool in the saucepan for 10 minutes while preparing the lemon juice, separating the eggs, and cutting up the butter.
- Add the lemon juice and sugar to the pineapple juice and stir to combine. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks until well combined.
- In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 1 tbsp warm water and set by the stove. Set the fine mesh sieve in a bowl or 4-cup or 8-cup pyrex measuring cup and set it by the stove as well.
- Whisking constantly, cook the pineapple juice mixture over medium heat until it begins to thicken and comes to a boil with big bubbles that "spit" when they pop - 5-10 minutes. Do not stop whisking or the eggs may start to scramble. At this point, quickly whisk in the cornstarch mixture and continue whisking until the curd starts to bubble again. Continue to whisk briskly while the curd bubbles (boils) for 30 seconds. (In order for the cornstarch to activate and fully thicken the curd, it is necessary to bring it to a boil.)
- Carefully pour the hot curd through the sieve into the pyrex or bowl. Use a spatula to push the curd through the sieve. Dispose of any egg white solids that are left in the sieve.
- Add the butter pieces, salt, and pineapple extract (if using) and give the curd a couple of stirs, then allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Resume stirring until the curd is well smooth. You should have 2 - 2 ¼ cups of curd, which is the perfect amount for this cake! Allow to cool and then store, well covered, in fridge until ready to assemble cake.
Make the Hummingbird Cake
- Place one rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Evenly distribute chopped pecans on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool but keep oven at 350°F in preparation for baking the cake layers.
- Prepare the cake pans: Use one of the pans to trace and cut 3 parchment circles. Spray pans with vegetable oil, lay a parchment circle inside each, and spray the parchment. If you only have 2 pans (like me), set aside the 3rd parchment circle to use after the first 2 cake layers have baked.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Gently whisk in the oil, eggs, and vanilla, just until combined.
- Using a spatula, fold in the pecans, chopped bananas, and crushed pineapple WITH juice. The batter will smooth out but will still be very thick.
- Weigh the cake batter and divide the total weight by 3 to determine how much batter to put in each cake pan. (I had about 66 oz of cake batter so I added 22 oz to each pan.) If you only have 2 pans, reserve the last third of batter while you bake the first two cake layers.
- Bake the cake layers for 25-30 minutes, until the top springs back, the sides pull away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean or with minimal crumbs stuck to it. Allow the layers to cool for 10 minutes, go around the edges with a thin knife to loosen, then carefully invert each layer onto parchment-lined plates or cardboard cake rounds to cool completely. Layers can be thoroughly wrapped and frozen for 1 week.
Make the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Pull butter from fridge and cut into small pieces. Set aside.
- Use stand mixer with beater attachment to beat cream cheese on medium low speed until perfectly smooth.
- Meanwhile, chop the white chocolate into bite-size pieces and gently melt in microwave. Chocolate really likes to burn so it's important to do this low and slow. I find that half power for 1 minute increments works well. Stir after each increment. If the chocolate looks mostly melted but still has a few pieces, let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes. Stir it again and you may find that all the chocolate has melted! If it hasn't, pop it back in the microwave at half power for 15 second increments until it's fully melted. Allow to cool enough so that it is warm but not hot.
- With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle the melted chocolate into the cream cheese. Pause halfway through to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat on medium until well combined.
- Turn the mixer back down to low and add the butter, piece by piece, until all of it has been added. Turn the mixer up to medium and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. Buttercream can be kept in freezer for a month, in fridge for 1 week.
Make the Dried Pineapple Slices
- Preheat the oven to 200°F. Use a chef's knife to peel the pineapple and slice into ⅛ -inch rounds. 12 rounds will be more than enough for this decoration. Reserve remaining pineapple for another use.
- Arrange slices in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Dry in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, turn over each slice, then return to oven for another hour. Remove from oven and lay the slices on a drying rack.
- To make the shapes, use a 3 cm diameter round metal cookie cutter to cut out pineapple circles. You will be able to get 3 circles out of each pineapple slice and you'll need 25-30 circles in total. Use kitchen scissors to halve the circles, making sure to save at least 5 circles for centers of the "suns" as shown on the cake.
Assemble the Cake
- Use a serrated bread knife to level the tops of the cake layers, if needed. Brush off any excess crumbs.
- Put a couple of tbsps of buttercream in the center of the cake plate or cake board and place the first cake layer on top. The buttercream will act as glue to anchor the cake once it's been refrigerated.
- Measure out 1 cup of buttercream and use the offset spatula to evenly spread it over the entire cake layer, right to the edge. Prepare your pastry bag with the plain piping tip (Ateco #806) and fill the bag with buttercream. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake layer, right on top of the buttercream you've already spread on the cake. This ring of buttercream functions as a dam that will keep the pineapple curd from running out of the cake as you assemble it.
- Measure out 1 cup of pineapple curd and spread it over the cake layer with the offset spatula, right up to the edge of the buttercream ring. If you use the Ateco #806, the ring will be the perfect size to hold the 1 cup of curd. Put this single layer into the fridge for 15 minutes to allow the buttercream to firm up. This is an important step because hummingbird cake is quite heavy and if the buttercream isn't firm, it won't hold up under the weight of the additional layers of cake, curd, and buttercream. After all the effort you've put into this cake, the extra wait time is worth it!
- Carefully place the second cake layer on top of the first layer and make sure it is centered. Push down very gently to make sure it is in contact with the hardened buttercream ring. Repeat the same process as with the first layer, spread out 1 cup of buttercream, pipe the buttercream ring, and fill with 1 cup of curd. Place back in the fridge for 15 more minutes.
- Place the third cake layer on top, again making sure it is centered. Cover the entire cake with a very thin coat of buttercream. This is called the crumb coat. The purpose of this is to fill in any cracks or crevices and to "glue" any crumbs to the cake so that they don't show up in the top coat of buttercream. Place the cake back in the fridge for another 15 minutes.
- Spread the top coat of buttercream over the cake, taking time to smooth it out, creating a even ⅛-¼ inch layer over the entire cake. This is not an easy thing to do and takes practice so please be kind to yourself and remember that the cake will taste great even if it doesn't look perfect! Place the cake back in the fridge for a final 15 minutes.
- Apply the pineapple slice shapes as shown in photos or create your own design! It's easiest to do this when the buttercream has firmed up in the fridge. The cake will keep, well covered, for 3 days in the fridge. Well wrapped slices will keep for a month in the freezer.