Saturday 31 May 2014

A Perfect Weekend Bake: Hummingbird Cake

HUMMINGBIRD CAKE 

I first came across this incredible cake about six months ago at my favourite local vintage inspire tea room Fancy, in Bedford. To the untrained eye it looks like a traditional carrot cake, but this little tropical masterpiece is full to bursting with a selection of exotic fruits instead of carrots. It is spiced similarly to carrot cake (with cinnamon), contains a mixture of walnuts and pecans, and is finally topped with an orange flavoured cream cheese frosting, much like its carroty counterpart. 

As soon as I tasted it at Fancy, I knew I had to make it - and my mum's birthday last week gave me the perfect excuse to try out this intriguing recipe using mashed tropical fruits, something I've never placed in a cake before, and the use of sunflower oil instead of butter - which coincidentally, worked perfectly.  

Carrot vs. Hummingbird

Carrot cake is definitely in my top five cakes of all time (I use Felicity Cloake's 'Perfect' Carrot Cake recipe and it is always A-MAZING). However, since making this tropical version, I think it might have to be de-ranked in favour of this South American rival. 

I baked this for the first time last week: most of my extended family tried it at a big family BBQ, and boy did it go down well - there wasn't a single crumb left over! My husband even ranked it as one of the best flavoured cakes he'd ever had…you can't get much better than that. 

I made a two tier sandwich cake and six cupcakes using this recipe from the BBC website (rather than a 3 tier cake as stated in the original recipe) you could do either. 

This unctuous cake is full to bursting with mashed banana, pineapple, mango and passion fruit. topped with a thick glossy cream cheese frosting and lightly spiced to perfection….go on…give it a go, you won't be disappointed. 

MY ATTEMPT AT HUMMINGBIRD CAKE 

Hummingbird Cake


I'm actually sad that this cake is in the past and has been completely devoured…I'm just going to have to make it again…!


Hummingbird Cupcake: to celebrate my lovely Mum's birthday! So delicious that my hubby ate two cupcakes in a row - which is a big deal considering he has been calorie counting big style for the past 9 months, and watches everything he eats! 

Have you got a birthday or special occasion coming up that you need to bake for? 

Or is the weekend a good enough excuse for you to whip up a storm in the kitchen? 

Either way, bake this...

…it's fine, you can thank me later! 

:-)

Mrs B

xxx