Inspired by bethcakes hummingbird cake and grandbaby cakes brown-butter frosting.
Ingredients [dry ingredients, wet ingredients, mix-in's]
Hummingbird Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- 2 generous pinches of salt
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 250g block browned butter (cooled)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 ripe bananas mashed (large)
- 1 can crushed pineapples (pour juice out)
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 2 large handfuls of toasted pecans
Brown-butter Frosting:
- 3/4 cup brown-butter (fully cooled and slightly soft)
- 2 sticks of cream cheese (600g)
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 4-5 cups of icing sugar (depending on the consistency and sweetness your after)
- 2 generous pinches of salt
Instructions:
1. Set oven to 180°C and prep three .... inch cake pans (I like to greece each pan and place a circle of baking paper on the bottom)
2. In a medium saucepan, brown the butter for the cake and leave to cool
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Starting with the butter, then sugars, eggs, vanilla, milk and mashed bananas.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
5. With an electric handmixer (or just a whisk) slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry until just incoorporated.
6. Carefully fold in all the mix-in's.
7. Divide the batter evenly into the three pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpink comes out dry with a few moist cumbs.
8. Cool for a moment and then transfer the cakes from the tins onto a cooling rack where each one can be wrapped with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge (do this while hot to insure the cakes remain moist).
9. Brown the butter for your icing and place into the frige to cool aswell.
9. When the cakes and butter are fully cool and you are ready to make the frosting, soften the butter and cream cheese for the frosting.
10. Whip them together with a handmixer until light and fluffy, then add vanilla paste. Slowly add icing sugar until you reach your desired consistency and taste. Add salt to finish.
11. To decorate the cake you may want to trim any mounds risen on the cake layers to make the process easier. Then using a rounded spatula, add a generous amount of icing to each layer of cake and finish with a thin layer around the sides for a 'rustic', 'homemade' look. Add more icing to the top of the cake and swirl (be creative here)! Add some toasted pecans on top.
12. Slice it up and share with guests (some freshly whipped coconut cream would complement the cake well, however this is not required by any means).