Hummingbird Swirls

So, here is the recipe that a) will get rid of your reject banana and b) got me a refill request. Win-win.

I have come across hummingbird cake in every Southern cake book I have. I had never heard of it, and I always just kind of passed it by - the picture looked like a boring old yellow cake with boring old cream cheese icing. Not real impressive. Then last weekend I was thumbing through my books looking for cupcakes to make for work for Valentine's Day. Something I wouldn't have to run to the store for. Ta-da, I found it in Cupcakes! a book by Elinor Klivans. ELINOR. You see now?

But is it really a Southern cake? I found a description that says it's "a Victorian cake recipe that is truly exceptional. The perfect cake to take to gatherings...it's easy, freezes well, serves many." But in the same article, it mentions it was first seen in Southern Living in 1978, submitted by Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greensboro, N.C.

Shit, Kendra, you were born in 1978. You're Victorian. Mom should throw you over the back of her couch.

Wikipedia has nothing, which really, really bothers me.

Anyway, it's delicious. The cupcakes, I mean. I'm going to try Miss Mary Bobo's recipe next, and I have a feeling it's going to be even better. After all, Ms. Elinor Klivans lives in Maine, and therefore, in my mind, probably doesn't know too much about Southern cakes, Victorian or otherwise.

(that wasn't meant to sound as bitchy as it did...you know how I am)


Hummingbird Swirls


Makes: 12 big-top cupcakes

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup mashed banana (1 banana)
1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple in its own juice, drained (8 oz can is what I used)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the egg, yolk, and sugar on medium speed until the mix is thick and cream-colored, roughly two minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl if necessary. On a low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Continue mixing and add the sour cream until completely blended. Mix in the flour mixture until the batter is smooth. Add the banana, pineapple, and pecans until completely blended.

Fill the cupcake liners with 1/3 cup of batter, to about 1/4 of an inch from the top of the liner.
Bake the cupcakes until the tops are golden and when a toothpick is inserted comes out clean (about 25 minutes).


Okay, the frosting. Everyone has their own cream cheese frosting recipe, I know, but I went ahead and used hers. Mine doesn't have butter. Hers tasted exactly like mine, though, so who knows. (Obviously, make sure your cupcakes are cooled before frosting.)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes: 3 cups (which is a bit too much for these cupcakes if you aren't piping them - I just frosted mine like a normal, un-fancy person with a plain old spatula and had a lot of icing left over. I wonder though, if I had piped it on, if I would have had enough. Eyeball this.)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (I used 8 oz...I am not about to cut up cream cheese and have 2 oz leftover)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar (You'll need way more, unless you are looking for your frosting to slide over the edge of your cupcake. Eyeball this too.)

Beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on low until smooth, roughly one minute. Add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth, about one minute. Beat for an additional minute to lighten the frosting.

I really wouldn't make any changes, as far as I recall (the cupcakes are long gone). All of her approximations (about 2 minutes, roughly 1 minute, baking time, etc.) were spot on, as I ran my kitchen timer to see. The only issue was with the frosting, which I made note of. I have a problem with every frosting recipe, though - they never tell you to use enough powdered sugar.

I know the recipe looks like a lot of work, but it's not. If you mise en place the shit out of it, you're good to go.

Here are some cool facts about hummingbirds I picked up while searching for the history of the cake's name:

They have tiny little feet that are only good for perching, scratching or preening. This means if they wish to move, even a few inches, they must fly.

They have very good memories and will even be able to remember where they found food from the previous year.

Hummingbirds will sometimes attack larger birds, even hawks or crows!

Early Spanish explorers called them Flying Jewels.

With no feather the average hummer is about the size of a bumblebee.

They can starve to death in about an hour.

They apparently do not eat cupcakes.