I wasn't able to make it home for Easter this year which was a bummer, but we made the most of it up at school, starting off the day going to the Bog Walk which was so pretty and got us out in the fresh air for some exercise before some serious eating.
Of course I prepared a meal of my own - not quite as good as a big dinner with my family, but it had to do. For dessert I made a Hummingbird cake, which I had never made, or even really heard of, and it was seriously one of the greatest cakes I've ever eaten. It has flavors similar to carrot cake, but also resembles a banana bread, and it is just perfect.
It was so sweet and moist yet there was a real depth of flavor from the cinnamon, brown sugar and ginger. Of course with a homemade cream cheese frosting on top, there will seriously never be any competition for future Easter cakes - or any other holiday for that matter, this just might always be my go-to from now on. Many of my friends at school tried it and I didn't get a single bad review (or anything less than an awesome review for that matter), they all seriously loved it.
Someday I will have to try tweaking my recipe to make it a little bit healthier so I can eat it more often (like breakfast, lunch, screw it maybe even dinner) but for holiday purposes, I like to just try and neglect calories and nutrition facts. It's Easter, come on! At least there are some fruit and nuts in the cake ;)
I made a sheet cake in a 9x13 inch pan, but you could use two 8" round pans as well. I found this to be easier and I didn't have too much time to spare!
Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3 ripe bananas*
1/2 cup finely chopped pineapple (fresh is best)
1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix together bananas, pineapple, walnuts or pecans and 1/2 cup of flour. This should make a pretty thick batter, and the bananas should all be mushed, not chunks of bananas. This is easier the riper the banana. Mix the rest of the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and the eggs at medium speed until light and thick - about 3 minutes, then gradually beat in the vegetable oil. Mix egg mixture with dry ingredients until combined and then gently fold in the banana mixture. Grease a 9x13 inch pan, or two 8" rounds and bake in preheated oven 40-45 minutes in 9x13, 35 minutes in 8" rounds - or until cakes are firm and toothpick comes out clean.
*The riper the banana the better - they are way sweeter, and much softer to they mix really well. So don't be freaked out if they are fully brown, they will work great - its better that way!
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
In medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in the vanilla and then gradually add the powdered sugar. Store in the fridge
*If making a 9x13 inch cake, you won't need the entire batch of frosting, there will be a little extra!
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