Dessert, Recipes

Hummingbird Cake!

by Lisa Dawn

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On our last trip to Florida, we had the most delicious Hummingbird Cake for dessert at Darbster. What is this mysterious cake, you might be asking yourself? Well, that is what I was asking myself…

From Wikipedia (the source of all things!):

“Created on the island of Jamaica, the Hummingbird Cake was named after the island’s national bird, where it is also known as the Doctor Bird cake (Doctor Bird is another name for the island’s national bird). In 1979, the Jamaica Tourist Board exported the recipe for the Hummingbird Cake off the island of Jamaica, along with other local Jamaican recipes in media press kits sent to the USA. The marketing was aimed at American consumers to get them to come to the island. As printed in the March 29, 1979 issue of the Kingston Daily Gleaner (Jamaica): “Press kits presented included Jamaican menu modified for American kitchens, and featured recipes like the doctor bird cake, made from bananas.””

This cake is one of the most delicious cakes of all time. All I did was veganize this recipe from kitchn.com. It was super easy to veganize – I just upped the oil and banana measurements. It could have been vegan in the first place! And for the cream cheese frosting, I use Kite Hill cream cheese, of course!

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Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients

Hummingbird Cake

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup vegan cane sugar
  • 1 cup packed vegan brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2.5 cups mashed banana
  • 1 cup sunflower oil
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup pecans chopped
  • 1/4 cup ground pecans for garnish
  • oil for brushing the pans
  • cream cheese frosting

Cream cheese frosting

  • 8 oz butter
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 4 cups vegan powdered sugar sifted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Hummingbird Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare 2 9″ round pie pans by oiling them lightly and then placing a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.

  2. Whisk together the flour, sugars, cinnamon, baking soda and salt just to incorporate it.

  3. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl to get the measurement right. It can be close enough. Add to the dry ingredients along with the oil, crushed pineapple, and vanilla.

  4. Mix well, like the way you would make banana bread. Then add the pecans. Don’t over mix, but incorporate the pecans well.

  5. Turn out the dough evenly into the two pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

  6. Let cool for a few minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack. Peel the parchment paper off and let cool completely, about 2 hours.

  7. To assemble the cake, add a dollop of frosting on the bottom of a cake platter or big plate. Gently slide pieces of parchment around the edges.

  8. Place one cake on the bottom and place a nice amount of frosting on the top. Spread it out with an offset spatula, it should be a nice layer.

  9. Top the bottom cake with the other cake. Frost the entire cake. Sprinkle the ground up pecans around the edges.

  10. Place in the refrigerator to set and then take out a little while before you are ready to serve. Enjoy!

Cream cheese frosting

  1. Sift the sugar. Set aside.

  2. Use a hand mixer to beat the butter, until light and smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat together until completely combined. Gradually add the sugar, a cup at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and salt and beat again until smooth.

  3. The frosting should be at room temperature when ready to ice the cake.

  4. Note: This recipe makes more than you will need for this cake. I like to freeze the rest of the batch and use it on my next cake! Just defrost it and beat it until it’s nice and smooth.

12 thoughts on “Hummingbird Cake!”

  10. We are fortunate to live about ten miles down the road from Darbster! Not only do we visit regularly, but I did some menu consulting work with them a couple years ago 🙂 Recently, Darbster celebrated 10 years since opening by offering FREE slices of hummingbird cake! Thanks for sharing this recipe and many, many congratulations on your cookbook!!

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