Day 6, A Cake-A-Day: Art Smith's Hummingbird Cake

 

Last year I had the fortune to see Chef Art Smith in person at California Adventure's Food and Wine Festival.  Art Smith was the personal chef for Oprah and has also worked with Martha Stewart and served as a special event chef for Martha Stewart Living.

 

Chef Art Smith

At some point during his presentation, his well-known Hummingbird Cake came up.  He talked about it and I logged it away in my mind as a recipe to try. 

This week a dear friend emailed me a recipe wondering if I'd be interested in trying a cake that was recommended to her.  It was the recipe for Art Smith's Hummingbird Cake.

Today was my first time making Hummingbird Cake.  I would describe it as a blend of moist amazing banana cake gone tropical topped with creamy cream cheese frosting.  Fantastic!

Art Smith's Hummingbird Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped ripe bananas
1 cup drained crushed pineapple
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (4 ounces) finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter two round 9" cake pans.  Line with round pieces of parchment paper.  Butter parchment.  Lightly flour bottom and sides of pan.

buttered pans

Parchment paper circle

Parchment paper buttered on bottom of pans

Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into bowl.  In another bowl, stir or whisk the bananas, pineapple, oil, eggs, and vanilla until combined.  Do not use an electric mixer, all by hand. Pour into the dry mixture and fold together with a large spatula just until smooth.  Do not beat.  Fold in the pecans.  Spread evenly into the pans.

Getting ready for sifting

Flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda

Sifting commences

Light and fine

Ripe bananas

I mashed some...

and chopped some...

Banana and pineapple

Beaten eggs

Wet ingredients

Ready to whisk

Whisking complete

Adding wet ingredients to dry ingredients

Folded

Baking

Bake until the cake springs back when pressed in the center, 30-35 minutes.  Transfer the cakes to wire racks and cool 10 minutes.  Invert cakes onto racks, remove parchment.  Turn right side up and cool completely.

Cooling on racks

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 pound confectioners' sugar (about 4 1/2 cups sifted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using and electric mixer on high speed, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until combined.  On low speed, gradually beat in the sugar, then vanilla to make a smooth frosting.

Sifting powdered sugar

Beating cream cheese and butter

Place 1 cake layer, upside down on a serving platter.  Spread with about 2/3 cup of the frosting.  Top with the second layer, right side up.  Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake.  The cake can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and stored, uncovered in the refrigerator.  Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

First layer (upside down)

Great tool for spreading frosting

Layer 2, right side up

Finished Cake

Enjoy!!

Day 5, A Cake-A-Day: Rich Chocolate Layer Cake

Today I left the cake choice up to our middle son.  He requested I make his favorite cake.  We have to make some adjustments to the recipe to make it his favorite, like leave out the coconut and the nuts.  Basically, it's chocolate, chocolate on chocolate.  He LOVES chocolate, especially creamy milk chocolate.  Here he is four years ago with his favorite cake.

Rich Chocolate Layer Cake and Soccer Cupcakes

This recipe, from Great Cakes, is also very easy, and gets rave reviews.  It's another box cake variation that is incredibly moist and a crowd favorite.

Remember one of my favorite cookbooks from this week's German Chocolate Cake?

I will post the complete recipe as it is in the book, but note, we make it without the coconut and nuts in the frosting.  Also, I made Baker Josef's (Trader Joe's) box frosting then added the sour cream and vanilla to it.

Rich Chocolate Layer Cake

1 box devil's food cake mix
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup mayonnaise
3 large eggs
1 cup water
2 16-ounce containers chocolate frosting
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter two cake pans, place a parchment paper circle in the bottom of each pan.  Butter the parchment.  Dust pans with flour.  Set aside.  Beat the cake mix, cocoa, mayo, eggs and water in a mixer on low speed until mixed, then increase speed to medium and beat for about 2 minutes.

Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans and spread evenly.  Bake for about 35 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool pans on wire rack about 20 minutes.  Use a knife to loosen edges and then invert cakes on wire rack.  Let cool completely.

Cooling on wire rack

Frosting

Whisk the frosting, sour cream and vanilla together in large bowl.  Instead of container frosting this time we used Baker Josef's Chocolate box frosting.  I just saw it at the store.  I noticed Trader Joe's is expanding their baking section.  Woo Hoo!  Make it as directed, then add vanilla and sour cream

Baker Josef's new addition at Trader Joe's

After making the frosting combination, transfer 1 1/2 cups of frosting to a medium bowl and stir in the almonds and coconut.  Set aside.  The outer frosting will not have coconut and nuts in it.

Use a serrated knife, or if you have one of these cool kitchen gadgets, cut each cake layer in half.

This is a GREAT tool for making cake layers!

Line the edges of a serving plate with 3 inch wide pieces of parchment paper, so as not to get frosting all over your serving plate.  Place cake layer, split side down on top.  Place 1/3 of the filling on top of the layer and spread evenly.

Layer 1 done

Place a second layer on top and cover with another 1/3 of filling.  Repeat until you get to last layer.  Spread frosting over the top of the cake, smoothing out to edges.  Then spread remaining frosting over sides.  Serve or store covered up to 4 days.

Enjoy!!!

Day 4, A Cake-A-Day: Angel Food Cake

My cousin is visiting us from Washington this week and since she's here during Cake Week, we let her choose the cake for Day 4.  She chose her favorite cake to bake: Angel Food Cake.

We used a recipe from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook.

Heavenly Angel Food Cake

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift 1/4 cup of the sugar, the flour, and salt together 3 times.  Remember...3 times for added fluffy lightness.

Our middle son helped make the cake.

Sifting 1 time, 2 times, 3 times

Beat the egg whites in a large mixer bowl until foamy.  Sprinkle with the cream of tartar and beat until stiff but not dry.  Beat in the vanilla.  Then beat in the remaining 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy.

Watching the egg whites

This just looks dreamy...

Beautiful Peaks...stiff and glossy.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the egg white mixture.

Folding in the flour

If you're wondering how to properly fold in the flour use a rubber spatula cut down through the mixture, gently scrape across the bottom of the bowl then come back up, folding some of the mixture from the bottom over close to the surface. Turn the bowl often so the ingredients are evenly distributed. Work quickly but lightly, taking care not to cause the fluffy mixture to deflate.

Pour the batter in an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.  Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched, about 50 minutes.  Invert the pan over the neck of a wine bottle.  Let cool several hours.

Ready for the oven

Oven-watching

Better than television

Looking good!

Run a knife around the side of the pan to loosen the cake and invert the cake onto a platter.  Serve with strawberries and whipped cream, bittersweet chocolate sauce, or grated bittersweet chocolate.

The strawberries available right now are so amazingly huge!  Look at them next to my phone.

Crazy BIG Strawberries!  And oh, so sweet!

 
Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce
 
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 ounces semisweet chocolate (chopped)
 
Heat in a pan until chocolate melts.  Drizzle over cake, if desired.

Angel Food Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce- Enjoy!