Hummingbird Cake Recipe
Caribbean in legend and rooted in the US Southern baking tradition, this Hummingbird Cake is delightfully opulent. Banana, pineapple, and cinnamon mingle in a moist crumb, crowned with luscious cream-cheese frosting.
Utensilien
- Electric hand mixer (with whisk and beater attachments)
- Kaiser La Forme Plus springform pan (24 cm / 10-inch diameter)
- Kaiser Inspiration dough scraper (approx. 24 cm / 9 1/2 inches long)
- Zenker stainless steel cake lifter (model 7703, approx. 28 cm / 11 inches wide)
- Digital kitchen scale (with tare function, up to 5 kg / 11 lb capacity)
- 3 Offset spatulas for cakes (stainless steel)
- Cake leveler (stainless steel, approx. 32 cm / 13 inches long, with serrated cutting wire)
- Whisk
- Cake ring (stainless steel, 10 cm / 4 inches tall, for 24 cm / 10-inch diameter)
- Powdered sugar sieve (recommended: press-action sieve)
Zutaten
Cake Batter
- 3 Eggs
- 325 g Flour (about 2 2/3 cups)
- 315 g Sugar (about 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp)
- 4.5 g Salt (about 3/4 tsp)
- 4.5 g Baking soda (about 1 tsp)
- 2.5 g Cinnamon (about 1 tsp)
- 250 ml Vegetable oi (about 1 cup plus 1 tbsp) (recommended: refined rapeseed oil)
- 1 1/2 TL Vanilla paste (1 1/2 tsp) (recommended: bourbon vanilla paste by Dr. Oetker)
- 340 g Banana (about 1 1/2 cups, mashed)
- 190 g Pineapple (about 3/4 cup, drained) (recommended: drained canned pineapple)
- 90 g Pecans (about 3/4 cup, chopped)
Frosting
- 560 g Cream cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 280 g Butter (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 1050 g Powdered sugar (about 8 3/4 cups (recommended: 950-1050 g, depending on frosting firmness)
- 1 1/2 TL Vanilla paste (1 1/2 tsp) (recommended: bourbon vanilla paste by Dr. Oetker)
- 1 Prise Salt (1 pinch) (this equals about 0.5 g) (this equals about 0.5 g)
- 20 g Pecans (about 3 tbsp) (set aside nice pecans for decoration)
anleitungen
Prepare the pan and ingredients
- Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and line the sides with parchment, as the pan is 6.5 cm (about 2.5 inches) tall. Lightly brush the inside with rapeseed oil and attach a 10 cm (about 4 inches) wide strip of parchment paper around the inside. The parchment sticks to the greased surface.
- Roast the 110 g pecans in the oven at 160 C (about 320 F) for about 10 minutes. Set aside the prettiest pecans for decoration and finely chop the remaining 90 g. Drain the pineapple and finely chop it, then mash the measured banana pieces.
Make the cake layers
- After baking, let it rest in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then carefully remove the springform ring and the parchment around the sides. Let the baked cake cool completely. For clean slicing, chill for 60-90 minutes in the fridge. If there is a domed top, trim it off. Then use a cake leveler to carefully cut the cake into three even layers and make sure nothing breaks. A cake lifter is very helpful here.
Make the frosting and prepare the cake
- For the frosting, let the butter soften. Briefly beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth, then add the vanilla and a pinch of salt. Sift in the powdered sugar gradually while mixing, checking the consistency as you go. If the frosting is too soft, chill it for 10-15 minutes and add a little more powdered sugar if needed. For assembly, adjust the cake ring to 24 cm and place it on a cake board. Line the edge of the cake board with small pieces of parchment paper so it stays clean while frosting. If the cake layers do not have perfectly straight sides or turned out slightly tapered, use the top layer for the middle, for example, and place the bottom layer on top for a clean top edge.
Setup and finalization
- Weigh out 300 g of frosting per inner layer and spread it evenly inside the cake ring. Place the next layer on top each time and gently press it down. Spread 300-350 g of frosting evenly over the top. Chill the Hummingbird Cake with the remaining frosting for about 90 minutes, then remove the cake ring. Finish the frosting on top and spread it evenly around the sides.
- Decorate with the reserved roasted pecans, then the Hummingbird Cake is ready. Before slicing, ideally chill for another 90 minutes in the fridge.
