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May 26, 2011

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.

11 comments:

  1. Those look so yummy! Love your little green loaf pan :D The cakes look great and sound so good.

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  2. I had never heard of hummingbird cake until I was in New Zealand recently. So delish! Thanks for sharing.
    -Erin

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  3. A new recipe to try for sure, a Hummingbird cake is new to me. A searching I shall go and see what I can come up with.

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  4. I just found your website. I like that you try to make good food healthy without losing taste.

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  5. O M GEEE, I absolutely LOVE this! I love HB cake, but hate hate all the overwhelming 'badness' in it. Thank you soooo much for playing around and figuring out a way to 'healthify' this delicious fruity baked good. I'm bookmarking it and can't wait to try it at some point when there's a reason for cake!

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  6. can you post the recipe you used for trial 3? thanks!

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  7. interesting!! love what you're doing!! can u post a recipe here?

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  8. I will be posting the recipe soon!

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  9. Oh perfect! I've been wanting to make a hummingbird cake, but there was always a bit too much southern hospitality in each bite, if you know what I mean. This is great that you posted up a lightened version of this! I'll definitely have to try this recipe otu! Thanks!

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  10. I like that you tried the recipe three times and didn't give up or get turned off by the first results! Is there are reason why it's called a Hummingbird cake?

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  11. Sarika,
    No one knows exactly how the cake got its name, but many believe it is because of its sweetness (Hummingbirds only drink the nectar of sweet flowers)
    -Jess

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