But to home bakers everywhere, hummingbird = a baked, edible treasure. I first encountered this version of hummingbird inside The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.
Oh, man. That hardbound book gave me a hard time because I got it all the way in Hong Kong and my luggage was already full to the brim (!!!). Even my tote bag was bursting (and heavy). I almost forgot to mention we didn't check in our luggage and I was in danger of having to pay for excess baggage.
Praise the heavens I didn't have to!
Going back to the (edible) hummingbird; basically it's a banana cake with pineapples and sometimes with coconut. I've tried quite a few banana bread/cake recipes and I thought adding pineapples was a nice and different touch. I also realized that the base for hummingbird cake is very similar (or should I say almost too identical) with carrot cake recipes. Except, of course, you swap the bananas for the carrots and vice versa. Go on and compare your favorite carrot cake and hummingbird recipes side by side and see what little to none difference they have!
I chose Spicy Southern Kitchen's 'Hummingbird Cake' recipe. The whole process felt like I was making any banana bread but with pineapples. And like all spontaneous baking instances, I only had 1 cup of canola oil and 1 and 1/4 cup of bananas to spare. I thought the muffins were going to be dry and bland but instead the outcome was the complete opposite.
Soft, moist, fragrant cake with a little chewy and crunchy in each bite is what these muffins have to offer!
You could follow the original recipe to a T and make a cake and frost it. But if you prefer to go the grab-and-go way of the muffins, do this: Preheat your oven to 218°C and prepare your cupcake tins either by lining with cupcake cases or by spraying the entire thing with non-stick spray. Then pour the batter almost all the way full. Bake for 5 minutes then lower temperature to 177°C and bake for 15-18 minutes more. Remember when you do the toothpick test: moist crumbs, they're done. Wet batter on the toothpick, still needs more time to cook. Got it? Great!
If you want a delicious and easy to make snack to take with you to work or school, this would be it. But if you're going to have visitors, I personally think it'd still be fine to serve these without frosting. But hey, if you're in the mood for rich, luscious and tangy cream cheese, these would be even better!
Til the next post!
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