Liz Lorbers Famous Hummingbird Cake Recipes

LIZ LORBER'S FAMOUS HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans with oil. Line bottoms with parchment rounds; brush parchment.
• Whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs and oil; stir with a wooden spoon until just combined (do not overmix). Stir in bananas, pineapple with juice, pecans, and vanilla. Divide batter evenly among pans, tapping bottoms firmly on countertop to remove air bubbles. Bake until a tester inserted into center of each cake comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans on wire racks, 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks and let cool completely, at least 1 hour.
• Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, and beat until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add salt and vanilla; beat to combine.
• Trim rounded tops of cakes with a serrated knife to make level. Place one cake on a cake plate or stand, trimmed-side down. Spread 1 cup frosting evenly across top. Place a second cake, trimmed-side down, on top of first layer. Spread with another 1 cup frosting. Place remaining cake, trimmed-side down, on top; spread remaining frosting evenly across top and sides of cake. Garnish with pineapple rounds before serving.

HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside.
• Prepare the cake; in a large bowl, stir to combine self-rising flour, sugar, oil, pecans, bananas, pineapple, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertips, 26 to 28 minutes.
• Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire rack. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
• Prepare the frosting; in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk on medium speed until frosting is smooth. If needed, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to achieve the proper spreading consistency.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate. Spread the top of the first layer with 1/4 of the frosting. Place the second layer on top and repeat process with another 1/4 of the frosting. Place the remaining layer on top of the second layer bottom side up. Spread entire cake with remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with pecans. Remove parchment paper strips; refrigerate until ready to serve.

HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease with butter and dust with flour three 9- or 10-inch round cake pans.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flours, sugar, salt, spices and baking soda.
• In a big bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla, pineapple and bananas really well.
• Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and whisk gently until there are no lumps. Fold in 3/4 cup of the pecans.
• Divide the batter among the pans, scraping all the batter from the bowl with a rubber spatula. Bake for 35 to 50 minutes, depending on your oven. Be advised: This is a dense, moist cake and you'll be tempted to overbake it. Try not to. Once you start seeing color on top, keep pressing the top of the cake. When it's firm, it's done.
• Turn out the cake layers onto a wire rack and let them cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting and garnish with the remaining 3/4 cup pecans and--if you're feeling very Southern--sliced maraschino cherries. You can even brulee some pineapple slices for the top of the cake.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all the ingredients. Whip on low speed for a while. When the sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer speed up and beat until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
• To spread, use the frosting at room temperature, but store it covered in the fridge. Rewhip cold frosting before using it.

TENNESSEE HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

Steps:

• Sift all dry ingredients.
• Set aside.
• Beat eggs,add oil and vanilla.
• Add dry ingredients and beat about 2 minutes.
• Add bananas,pineapple,nuts and fold in with a fork--don't beat.
• Bake 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

CHEF JOHN'S HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter two 9-inch round cake pans, then dust with flour. Set aside.
• Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl; whisk quickly to combine. Add oil and eggs and mix with a spatula until just combined.
• Add vanilla, pineapple, bananas, and toasted pecans, and mix until thoroughly combined. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans. Shake each pan then tap on the counter to settle the batter and bring any air bubbles to the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
• Let cakes cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Let cool completely, at least 1 hour.
• Combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment on high speed, mix until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as necessary with a spatula. Mix in the powdered sugar on a lower speed in 3 or 4 additions until mostly incorporated. Increase to high speed and whip until light and fluffy.
• Place one cake on a serving platter. Spread 1/2 of the frosting on top, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch unfrosted at the edges. Top with second cake layer and give it a firm but gentle press. Pile remaining frosting on top and spread toward the outside.
• Place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, draw or trace a hummingbird template on a piece of paper and lay on a baking sheet under a silicone mat (such as Silpat®).
• Heat sugar for hummingbird in a saucepan over medium-low heat until dissolved, hot, and amber in color. Drip liquid sugar onto the silicon mat, tracing the hummingbird pattern. Let sit until hard.
• Place cooled hummingbird on top of cake and decorate with edible flowers.