ingredients
For the cake
3 eggs
200ml olive oil
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
380g self-raising flour
300g caster sugar
140g pecans, lightly toasted, roughly chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon
320g fresh pineapple
3-4 really ripe bananas, mashed
For the frosting
100g unsalted butter, softened
400g cream cheese frosting
500g icing sugar, sifted
For the filling
80g reserved fresh pineapple reserved, drained really well
1 ripe banana, mashed
To serve
Pecans, lightly toasted
METHOD
For the cake
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line three 20cm round cake tins.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil, and vanilla until well combined. In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar, pecans and cinnamon and stir to combine. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and beat well.
In a food processor, blitz the pineapple until crushed, but not yet pureed. Reserve 80g for the filling and put the remainder into the cake mixture, juice and all! Add the banana too and mix until thoroughly combined.
Divide batter into the three cake tins and bake in the oven until a skewer or tooth pick comes out clean when placed in the centre of the cake. Leave to cool a little in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before assembling.
For the filling
Mash the banana and combine in a bowl with the reserved 80g of crushed pineapple.
For the frosting
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and there are no lumps. Slowly add the icing sugar until well incorporated.
To assemble
Place one cake on the bottom of a serving plate or board. Spread with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting and distribute half of the filling mixture on top. Repeat with the next cake layer, making sure the cakes are in line with each other. Finish layers with the third cake.
Place a big spoonful of the cream cheese frosting on the top of the cake and with a palate knife, slowly work your way down and around the cake. This is the first layer of frosting (a.k.a. crumb coat), to smooth it all out and pack down the crumbs, so don’t be too pedantic. Once the whole cake is thinly covered, pop the cake in the fridge for about an hour or until the icing has firmed a little.
Finish the cake with the final layer of frosting. Top with lightly toasted pecans.
HUGE THANKS Julia Busuttil of for sharing her amazing sweet recipes with us this month, and to Eve Wilson for the gorgeous shots!
Ok, have a SERIOUS craving for this cake now. Will have to attempt a version on the weekend perhaps. Delicious blog, can’t wait to see more.
Oooh this looks and sounds delicious – I’ll be trying it out for sure! Lovely styling and product shots too by the way :)
Re the Hummingbird cake. Surely one should cook the pineapple as it has an enzyme that would destroy any raising agent? All recipes for this use canned pineapple not fresh??
Amazing! X
Hummingbird cake really is the best!! I HAVE to make it now… x
Damn it, now I need to go out for cake.
YUM.
My favourite and only cake ever that I ever will eat and scoff and lick fingers too. Please share up here north ways!!!
OMG congrats Julia! Ive eaten one of this gal’s cakes before and it was DIVINE!
xxx
Thanks for sharing! Looks awesome!
Yum! Looks awesome!
Hi Emilija – You’re right, most recipes call for tinned pineapple, but I always use fresh pineapple when I can get it as I prefer it’s texture in the cake. I haven’t found that it affects the cake’s rise though! You can definitely use the tinned if you prefer :)
So fabulous to see Julia featured – I love her blog! Her cakes are amazing – nom nom nom
Looks amazing. Fabulous blog too!
Ahhhh my favourite kind of cake! Reminds me of home. Yummo!
Love the photography… gorgeous
I don’t bake very often but this cake looks and sounds so scrumptious that I’ll give it a go!
This cake is yummy! I have made it twice, once according to the recipe and the second time with some minor variations (I used walnuts instead of pecans, added apple purée and coconut). Either way it’s deliciously moist and full of flavour. Do yourself a favour and bake this cake!