Who is your oldest friend? I don't mean by age, but by years of friendship. Mine is Heather, who I met in kindergarten, 40 years ago (I don't mind revealing her age because frankly, she looks amazing!). We've woven in and out of each others' lives over the years, and we both have many other friends, but no one else will ever be an older friend.
So when your oldest friend requests a vegan cake, you get on that and get it done! Vegan. No eggs, no dairy... tall order in the cake baking world. My thought was that I was going to need a cake with another source of moisture and fruit seemed a likely candidate, leading me to hummingbird cake. I had never heard of hummingbird cake before a couple of years ago, a southern US treat laden with bananas, pineapple and pecans. Traditionally it's iced with cream cheese frosting, which is delicious, but in this vegan version I've gone with a yummy coconut cream frosting.
This cake uses very little sugar, so I also included a pineapple filling and topping for another injection of moisture and sweetness. As it turned out, we didn't actually eat a slice of this until the next day and in that time the syrup from the pineapple had oozed through the cake layers. It took away from the visual aesthetic, but I think the result was even tastier!
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Happy baking!
VEGAN HUMMINGBIRD MINI-CAKE WITH COCONUT FROSTING
makes 2 mini-cakes (and off cuts for sampling!)
THE CAKE
1¼ cup (150g) flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
⅓ cup toasted pecan pieces,
2 very ripe bananas (~3/4 cup)
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup crushed pineapple, lightly drained
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Grease one 8" round cake pan and line bottom with baking paper.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together and set aside.
In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add sugar, oil, pineapple and vanilla. Mix well.
Add dry ingredients and pecans all at once and mix until just incorporated.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool fully. Remove baking paper.
PINEAPPLE FILLING
½ cup crushed pineapple
2 tablespoons white sugar
½ tablespoon cornstarch
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and mix well. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened. Set aside to cool.
COCONUT FROSTING
¼ cup (56g) vegan margarine at room temperature
2 tablespoons coconut cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup icing sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
Beat margarine and coconut cream until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well. Add icing sugar a bit at a time, mixing well. Taste at this point. If you like the coconuttiness (think I just made up that word) leave as is, but if you want something more tart, add the lemon juice.
ASSEMBLY
Place cake on a cutting board and create mini-cake layers by cutting 4 circles. Depending on the size of your cutter, you will need to go quite close to the edge to get the four. If your cake hasn't baked flat, use a bread knife to level the tops of the layers. Snack on offcuts with a cup of tea.
Place one layer, bottom side down, on a serving plate and cover with a layer of pineapple filling. Top with a second layer, bottom-side up. Repeat with other two layers to make a second cake.
Coat with just a thin layer of frosting for a rustic appearance, or add a second thicker layer of frosting. Decorate as desired.
Store in fridge, but serve at room temperature.
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