Hummingbird Cake Recipe

butter, for greasing pans
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Cup pecan pieces
3 ripe bananas, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1 teasp ground cinnamon
1/2 teasp nutmeg
1/2 teasp ground ginger
1 1/4 teasp baking soda
1/2 teasp salt
3 large eggs, room temp
1 3/4 Cups granulated sugar
1 Cup vegetable oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 8" round cake pans with 2" hi sides. Line with parchment rounds, butter again, or flour bottom lightly. Spread pecans on baking sheet and bake about 7 minutes til toasted. Let pecans cool slightly, put in a bowl with the chopped banana and pineapple. Toss with 1/2 cup flour.

Whisk the remaining 2 1/4 cups flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and baking soda and salt in bowl. Set aside. Beat sugar and eggs in a separate bowl with mixer on high for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in vegetable oil.

Sprinkle flour mixture over egg mixture, then gently fold to make a thick batter. Fold in the pecan-fruit mixture, then transfer batter to pans. Bake until the cakes are firm and a toothpick comes out clean 35 to 45 min. (check at 35 and every 3min). Cool in the pans on a rack, 25 minutes, then invert the cakes onto the rack to cool completely.

Frosting
2 Pkg cream cheese
12 Tablespoons butter, at room temp (1 1/2 cubes)
2 Cups confectioners sugar
1 T grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

Make the frosting: Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until fluffy, then gradually beat in the butter until combined. Sift confectioners sugar over the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the lemon zest and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy.

Assembly:
Carefully with a serrated knife, cut the layers in 1/2. Put one layer cut side up on a plate cover with frosting and repeat with next 3 layers. Frost the sides very lightly and smoothly, put in frig for 15 min. (this keeps crumbs from coming off)
Remove from frig and frost sides and top generously. I garnished top with chopped crystallized ginger and toasted pecans. (be sure and toast 1/4 C more when you do your toasting)
Put you cake in the frig but make sure you take it out 1 hr before serving. Enjoy!

Hummingbird Cake

H i everyone! What a beautiful weekend! Today was a great day to bake in the air conditioning. This Hummingbird Cake was pretty easy, it did require a little extra time to chop up fresh pineapple and banana. The recipe didn't specify how fine to chop them so I did them quite small. I think I could have left them a little larger for more interest.
I do think it's important that you get the correct pans if you don't have them already. It requires 2 8" round pans with 2" high sides. The batter rose to the top of the pans while baking so you do need that height. Since you are cutting the layers in 1/2 it is necessary to have that nice tall layer!
Remember to beat the eggs and sugar a full 5 minutes, it will be thick. When you add the flour mixture be sure and fold it into the egg mix, don't beat! The recipe says to bake 50 to 55 minutes! Not! I set my timer for 45 min. At 40 min I could really smell it so when I went and looked in the oven it looked done. I checked with a toothpick and it was clean. So I took it out at 40 min, but I think 38 min would have been perfect. Wow lucky for you guys I'm testing this recipe first!
So of course we had to cut a piece and as you can see, it looks a lot like a spice cake. It's very moist, you can taste the banana, pineapple and a hint of cinnamon and ginger. The cream cheese frosting is very delicious with this cake, sweet and fluffy with a tiny bit of lemon. It's definitely a lighter cake than a carrot. If anyone finds out the history behind the name let me know!
Hope you find the time some day to make this one. So different and really fabulous. Your guests would love it!

TA DA!!!! THE WINNER IS.......

Hello all you wonderful cake lovers! Thank you so much for voting on the next cake. I will be making the Hummingbird Cake tomorrow! I am so excited because I have never made this cake or anything like it before. It is full of chopped fresh pineapple, banana, and toasted pecan pieces! Wow, and to top it off, it has a rich cream cheese frosting! ( also a touch of ginger in the cake!)
I found the cake recipe while browsing through a Bon Appetit magazine from 2002, yes I have saved a few since I have had a subscription since 1972! I love that magazine. Anyway, the recipe calls for 8 inch pans, which I didn't have so I made a fun shopping trip to Kitchen Kaboodle! All baking items were 10% off, so got 2 beautiful pans with 2 inch high sides, a frosting spatula, parchment paper rounds, and because they were 50% off, 8 new red napkins! Yay!

Do not despair, followers, Red Velvet is next on the list, followed by Coconut! Maybe I'll do one of those cupcake style!

By the way, I am so proud of 2 followers who made the lemon cake last week. Hoping they post their experience soon for all to read. Next week is my birthday, wonder what kind of cake I will be eating??? (no I am not making my own, my sister, Chris, has volunteered)

Have a great weekend......

VOTE ON MY NEXT CAKE!

Hey followers, I need your help! I have had many suggestions for my next cake adventure, but I can't decide! Please vote for your favorite....

1. Red velvet
2. Carrot
3. Coconut
4. Lowfat Blueberry Coffeecake
5. Caramelized Apple Upsidedown Cake
6. Chocolate Raspberry
7. Strawberry Cheesecake
8. Hummingbird Cake (pecan, banana, pineapple w/ cream cheese frosting)

Glazed Lemon Cake

Cake

1/2 lb sweet butter, (2 cubes) softened
2 C granulated sugar
3 C unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C buttermilk
2 T packed lemon zest
2 T fresh lemon juice
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Grease with butter a 9" tube pan
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5 minutes.
Beat in eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Add lemon zest and juice.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Set on middle rack and bake 1 hour 5 min, or until tester inserted comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan 15 min. Remove from pan and spread on icing while it's hot.

Lemon Icing

1 1b. powdered sugar
1 cube butter
3 packed T grated lemon zest
1/2 C fresh lemon juice

Cream sugar and butter thoroughly. Mix in lemon zest and juice, spread on warm cake.

Hi cake fans! Well, this afternoon I made the Glazed Lemon Cake. It was pretty simple since it's made in a tube pan which has a removable bottom. No crazy layers to fall apart or anything. The batter is basic, cream the butter and sugar, add dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. I used a stand mixer and beat the butter and sugar for a full 5 minutes. When all is done it is a thick batter and it rises a lot while baking. The recipe says to bake 1hr and 5 min, but mine only took 55 min. I made the glaze while it was baking. Just your simple powdered sugar, butter, lemon zest and juice. It is pretty thin, which is good because you are putting it on the cake while the cake is still hot. I don't know why the recipe has you make so much because I had half leftover! (no I didn't eat it all, just a little) By the way I used meyer lemons for the cake and the glaze. They are darker yellowish orange in color and more tart flavor. It doesn't matter which you use, but I bought 6 for both the cake and frosting and used all for the zest, but had 2 leftover for the juice.
I let the cake cool for 15 minutes, ran a knife around the sides and the bottom and carefully tipped it over onto a plate. Yay! Came out great. I cut some strips of waxed paper and stuck them around the bottom trying my best to get them a tiny but under the cake if possible. Then I spooned the glaze over the top and let it melt down the sides. I did that a few times to give it a nice coating. I let it cool for about 45 min, removed the waxed paper and no mess!

I can't wait to see how it tastes tomorrow! I will definitely report back. It was hard for me to make a cake that you can't frost it so it looks perfect, but I am telling myself that it's supposed to be this way. A GLAZE is not a frosting. Also, I must confess I would be more excited about it if I had raspberries or blackberries to serve along side! Recipe to follow! Talk to ya soon....

Hi Everyone, it's time to bake a cake! I have been researching a cake to make for a family reunion picnic on Saturday. Needs to be easy to transport, easy to serve, and taste incredible! I had a lot of suggestions for cakes this week (thank you!), but I think the best choice for this occasion is a Glazed Lemon Cake. I made it many years ago and I remember it as really moist, very lemony and the glaze is all buttery lemony sweetness! Yum. It is a very easy cake with lots of fresh lemon juice and zest in both the cake and the frosting. I will be baking on Friday, can't wait! Hope you all enjoy....
PS it is baked in a tube pan(the one with a hole in the middle, not a bundt) yay! no layers to split or mess up!

German Chocolate Cake Recipe

Cake -

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 C boiling water
1C cold unsalted butter, diced (2 cubes)
2C sugar
4 eggs- separated
2tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 C flour
1 C buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of 2 9inch cake pans. Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper or wax paper to fit, put in bottom, grease those.

Combine chocolate in a small bowl with boiling water, let sit 2 min before stirring. Stir until completely melted.

Place butter and sugar in bowl of a mixer with paddle attachment and beat on high for about 5 min until light and fluffy. It took 7 min when I did it. With mixer on low add egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down sides. Combine salt, baking soda and flour in a bowl. Add one third of dry ingredients, one third of buttermilk, and continue in 3 additions, ending with buttermilk.
Now unless you have 2 mixers you will have to pour this mixture in a large bowl and wash out your mixer bowl. Make sure to wash and dry. Add the reserved egg whites to this bowl and beat on high until SOFT peaks form. Careful, it doesn't take that long, you don't want stiff peaks that stand up on their own.
Divide cake batter between pans and bake 30-35 min. Mine took 29 min. Set your timer for 25 min and start checking. Use toothpick in center. When it comes out with a few moist crumbs on there its done. Don't overbake! Cool completely.

Filling -

2C shredded sweet coconut
1 C toasted chopped pecans
1 10 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 C sugar
3 eggs yolk
1/2 C unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla

Place coconut and pecans in large bowl, set aside. Combine evaporated milk, sugar, eggs and butter in saucepan over med-hi heat, whisking CONSTANTLY until it comes to a boil. Careful, it will scorch if you don't stir it. It takes a while. Remove from heat as soon as it starts boiling. Mix in pecans and coconut, add vanilla and refrigerate til cool.

Ganache Frosting -

1 1/2 lb. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 C light corn syrup
2 C heavy whipping cream

Combine chocolate and corn syrup in large bowl, set aside. Place cream in saucepan over med heat. Bring to boil, then pour over chocolate mixture. Let it sit about 2 min, then whisk until smooth. I put it in the frig for 25 min to get it thick enough to spread. Yours might not take that long.

Assembly -

Remove cakes carefully from pans onto wax paper. If you want cut them in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Or, just use the 2. Get out your filling and reserve about a cup for the top of your cake. Set aside. Place one on your platter right side up spread 1/2 the filling. Put next layer on, spread rest of filling. Beginning with the sides spread a very light layer of frosting on sides and top. Put in refrigerator about 30 min. Now you are ready to frost it for real. Do sides 1st, then top. Put your reserved filling in the middle top of cake, spread carefully so is just in the middle. Refrigerate your cake, but let it sit out 45 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

German Chocolate Cake

Ok, so it took me about 50 minutes to whip up the cake batter because I mistakenly thought I could do it between my mamogram and dermatology appointments. Wrong. So they are in the oven and look good so far. Had to remeasure the dry ingredients because I put baking powder in instead of baking soda. This was when I was upset about a friend's sick baby and was texting back and forth with my daughter. So, as you will see when i post the recipe, it is kind of a pain to have to separate the eggs and then wash the bowl and beat the whites separately. I can see that it is worth it tho, because it is making the cakes much taller! I had to throw out the first whites I whipped because I, again, trying to multitask, and sorting laundry, over whipped and instead of soft peaks they were too stiff. I could tell that they wouldn't fold into the cake batter well, so redid them. Lucky I didn't have to go to the store. Do not plan to do this when you are tired or have something on your mind. Also if you don't have a stand mixer, you may be in trouble, because you have to beat the sugar and butter 5 minutes. With a hand mixer, your hand might fall off. ( maybe it would take 10 min. to get it light and fluffy).

Filling: doesn't call for toasting the pecans, but have decided to do it. Believe it or not I already had to redo those because I burned them. I don't usually make all these mistakes, must be the pressure. Made it through the recipe without screwing anything up. Biggest challenge is trying not to eat it. Yum. By the way, toasting the nuts added a nice layer of flavor. I think you'll like it too.

Frosting: my favorite. I am wearing one of those masks that Hank wears when he mows the lawn. This is to keep from eating it all. 1 1/2 lbs of New Season's best bittersweet chocolate. Heavy cream and corn syrup. Heaven in a bowl. Be sure and chop the chocolate so it melts under the heat of the cream. I put it in the frig for about 30 min. before frosting the cake.

Assembly: So I was shaking in my flip flops, but I cut each layer in 1/2 so there would be 4 layers, more room for that delicious filling. It was hard! The cake is delicate so it was nerve wracking, but I got it done. If you are too scared, don't do it! Just put twice as much filling between layers! I put a very thin layer of ganache over the entire cake and chilled it for 25 min. It keeps crumbs from coming off and messing up your frosting. I poured myself a glass of zinfandel. I frosted the sides first, then the top. I had reserved a cup of the filling and I spread it right in the middle of the cake. (I really put a lot of frosting on because it is the best part, if you don't want it, don't eat it all). Decorated around the edges with toasted whole pecans. Voile! Recipe to follow! Don't be afraid, just make sure you have a whole day without kids or appointments! Enjoy!

Hello cake fans! I am obsessed with cake. Not overly decorated, not unique flavors, just plain homemade delicious and beautiful cake. Recently I found myself baking alot of cakes, mostly for family and friend's birthdays. They've been turning out really good! But, I have been very careful to read as many tips on cake making as possible. Now, don't get me wrong, I have had some mishaps in the past. So, I hope you'll follow along when I start my next cake adventure, and we'll see how it turns out!