Hummingbird Cake

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If you read my previous post, then you know that mostly everything I bake requires trial after trial, because what usually results is error after error.  Since I try to "healthify" every recipe I make, many of them do not work... and that leads me to this Hummingbird Cake--a tropical cake with pineapple, banana, coconut.  Super tasty, and now, super healthy!


Trial #1:
The recipe I found looked amazing, but I've gotta say, 2 cups of sugar, 3/4 cup of oil and 3 whole eggs kind of scared me.  I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of AP flour, halved the sugar content and used 1 egg + 1 egg white.  This is how the taste-test went:
     first bite:  YUM!
     next few bites:  hmm... a little dry
     next next few bites:  okay, I can't even taste the pineapple anymore
     last bite: darn... what does it need?

My mistakes: overmixing, blending the egg whites (makes mixture frothy and leaves the cake too dry/airy), and forgetting the oil and vanilla extract!

Trial #2:
I lowered the sugar even more since there was natural sugar coming from the pineapple and bananas. I increased the cinnamon (which makes what you're baking taste sweeter), drained the pineapples, added a banana, and remembered to add the oil!  I lowered the oil content by 1/3 and used 3 egg whites instead of 1 egg and 1 white. I also added some coconut extract for more flavor.

Trial #3:

In this trial I used different bakeware.  Rather than mini loaf pans, I used 4 mini ramekins and 1 mini loaf pan. I added baking powder to make the cake a little less dense and to lower the fat content I used some applesauce in place of some oil. This cake was delicious! Sweet, moist and full of flavor.  My whole family loved it  :)

Hummingbird Cake:
inspired by Hungry Housewife

   Dry:
      180g (1+1/2 cups) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
      1/4 cup Reduced Fat Shredded Coconut (optional)
      48g (1/4 cup) Sucanat (or dry sweetener of choice)
      1 tsp Cinnamon
      1/2 tsp Baking Powder
      1/2 tsp Baking Soda
      1/4 tsp Sea Salt

   Wet I:
      42g (3 tbs) Grapeseed Oil (or any other neutral oil)
      1 tsp Vanilla Extract
      1/2 tsp Coconut Extract
      3 Egg Whites, large

   Wet II:
      one 8oz can Pineapple Rings, drained (packed in 100% juice)
      62g (1/4 cup) Unsweetened Applesauce
      240g Banana (about 2 medium)


Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray pans of choice with cooking spray (read above)
2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the Dry ingredients.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together Wet I ingredients.
4.  Add Wet II ingredients into a blender and puree.  Stir this into the other wet ingredients.  Gently fold wet into dry until just incorporated (feel free to add 1/4 cup chopped pecans).  Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for ~35 minutes (depends on pans used) or until edges have browned, a toothpick comes out clean and surface springs back when touched.

Let cool and sprinkle with unsweetened coconut flakes and/or a drizzle of honey.