Humble Hummingbird Cake With Sweet Pecan Dust

Humble hummingbird cake with sweet pecan dust. Doesn’t that sound just like a fairytale? Well, there’s nothing fictional about this. Delicious banana & pineapple sponge cake with sweet lime & cream cheese filling, topped with pecan dust. Just look at this beauty… Yum!

It looks lovely, right? The thing with making a hummingbird cake is that there are 3 separate parts to it. The sponges, the filling, and the pecan dust topping. None of this is particularly difficult. However, there are quite a few tasks. This is not a “chuck it all in a pot and bang it in the oven” type of recipe. Having said that, please don’t let this deter you from having a go at making this delicious hummingbird cake. It’s really quite easy and the step by step guide below will walk you through the process.

Before we go on and make this beauty though, one quick comment on the name. I’ve searched high and low for the origin of the “Hummingbird” cake title and no one seems to know! The only comment that sort of makes sense is that the name comes from its sweetness. Hummingbirds, nectar, sweetness, etc. However, even this though, is a little tenuous…

Anyway, let’s make one…

1. Make the hummingbird cake sponges

First, get the two sponge layers going. You’ll need two 23cm round cake tins. If you only have one then that’s OK. You’ll just need to bake the two separately.

Whether it’s one or two tins, line each cake tin with greaseproof baking paper.

In addition, now turn the oven on to preheat at 180C / 160C Fan / 350F.

a) Gather the ingredients together

The sponge cake is made the normal way with flour, oil, eggs, and sugar. However, it is also loaded with fruit. For a hummingbird cake, you’ll need bananas and tinned pineapple.

As always, all ingredients and measurements are listed in the printable recipe below.

b) Prepare the dry mixture

The first step is to prepare the dry ingredients. Start by adding the flour and cinnamon to a sieve and over a mixing bowl.

Next, sieve this into the bowl.

Finally, add a pinch of salt and the golden caster sugar and mix together with a kitchen spoon.

c) Prepare the wet mixture

For the wet mixture start by peeling the bananas and placing them in a mixing bowl. Make sure the bananas are ripe. You can tell this by the brown spots on the skin.

Following this, and using a fork or a potato masher, mash the bananas until they become a something like this…

Next, strain and finely chop the pineapple and this to the mashed bananas along with the oil, eggs and vanilla extract.

Mix this all together. If you have a food processor you can use this. Alternatively, use a spoon and a bit of elbow grease.

And that’s it. Both the dry and wet mixture a ready for the next stage…

d) Prepare the sp0nge cake mixture

Next, gently fold the banana and pineapple mixture into the flour. This is only a fold and not a mix so be gentle. The end result should look something like this…

The final part of preparing the sponge cake mixture is to finely chop the pecan nuts and add these to the batter.

Fold the nuts in and the sponge mixture is complete.

e) Bake and cool the sponges

The final part of making the sponges is to first pour the sponge cake mixture into the cake tins. Make sure they are even amounts. Once in the tins place each tin in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the center so the sponge springs back if touched lightly.

Once the sponge cakes are baked and out of the oven run a palette knife around the edge of each sponge and leave for 10 minutes to cool.

Finally, and after 10 minutes, lift each sponge cake from the cake tin, peel off the baking paper, and place on cooling wires to cool. Don’t worry if the sponge seems heavy. This is not a Victoria Sponge. This is a cake with a lot of fruit in it!

The sponges are now ready. It’s time to make the filling.

2. Prepare the hummingbird cake filling

The filling is a wonderful sugar, butter, cream cheese, and lime mixture. Definitely not low fat but very delicious.

a) Gather the ingredients together

As mentioned, all that’s needed is icing sugar, butter, cream cheese and lime (zest and juice). Ignore the caster sugar and pecans in the picture below. They’re for the pecan dust a little later.

b) Make the butter icing

To make the butter icing the butter must be at room temperature. If it’s straight out of the fridge it will be very difficult to mix with the icing sugar.

First, add the icing sugar to a sieve over a mixing bowl. Just like the self-raising flour for the sponge cake.

Sieve the icing sugar to remove all of the lumps.

Finally, and using a blender, add the sieved icing sugar to the blender mixing bowl and gradually mix in the butter until a paste is formed.

c) Finish the filling

Next, add the cream cheese and the zest and juice from one lime. Using a kitchen spoon gently mix this in but do not over mix. Once the consistency is smooth the filling is ready.

Place the finished filling on a fridge until ready to use.

3. Make the pecan dust

a) Gather the ingredients

The pecan dust is the fun part. First, gather the ingredients together. Just caster sugar and pecan nuts.

b) Form the nutty syrup

To form the nutty syrup start by adding the sugar and a splash of water to a non-stick frying pan. Place this over medium heat and swirl the pan around until the sugar has dissolved. No need to stir, just swirl. The mixture may boil a little but that’s only the water evaporating.

Once the mixture starts to turn darker add the pecans and make sure they are covered in the syrup. Finally, and when the color turns golden pour the mixture onto greased baking paper and leave to cool.

c) Make the pecan dust

When the pecan brittle has cooled, peel it off the baking paper and add it to a processor.

Finally, pulse blitz the pecan brittle to make pecan dust.

With the pecan dust finished it’s now time to assemble the hummingbird cake…

4. Assemble the humble hummingbird cake with pecan dust

Are you ready for the final push? The assembly of the humble hummingbird cake itself…

First, grab a plate or, preferably, a cake stand and place one of the sponge cakes to form a base.

Next, take half of the filling and spoon this onto the base. Using a palette knife smooth this so it is even across the base.

Now, place the second sponge cake on top of the filling and repeat with the remaining filling on the top sponge.

Almost there… take the final lime and grate the zest over the top of the icing, and…

finish off by sprinkling the pecan dust all over the top. Don’t worry if you have too much pecan dust. This can be used to sprinkle over ice cream or any other cream dessert.

And that’s about it folks. Humble hummingbird cake with sweet pecan dust. Yep, it requires a little effort but nothing that beyond any of us, and the result is so worth it. Delicious banana and pineapple soft sponge cake stuffed with sweet lime and cream cheese filling and topped with pecan dust. Humble but heavenly. Yum!

 

I do hope you enjoyed this post. This is the first ever proper cake post for The Yum Yum Club. First of many, I hope.  If you’d like to be kept up to date with all recipes from The Yum Yum Club just sign up to our newsletter at the top of this page. Otherwise, you can follow us on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram by clicking the relevant link.

As always, many thanks for reading and until next time… Steve.

Nutritional values

Printable Recipe