Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Recipe Wednesday Back in Action!!


Who needs a recipe Wednesday in their life?!!? Anyone??
Well even if you don’t, here you go! :)

It was Russ's Mom's birthday on Saturday and soo as for any birthday the most important part is the cake, well maybe not the most important but it’s pretty far up the list, at least for this cake-loving girl!

Soo it was my job to make the cake, her favorite being banana cake. I don’t know if you have ever gone in search of a banana cake recipe, and honestly I don’t think I have ever even heard of it to make things even more interesting. I have however made banana bread and it seemed to me that all of the recipes that I found were more of banana bread recipes which just didn’t sound right to me, and then I stumbled upon this little gem of a recipe!

Light Hummingbird Chiquita Banana Cake Recipe

Chiquita Bananas, pineapple and nuts combine in this lighter version of the classic Southern favorite, Hummingbird cake.
















Ingredients:

· 2 3/4 cup all-purpose Flour

· 1/2 tsp. Salt

· 1 1/2 tsp. Baking soda

· 1 tsp. Cinnamon

· 1 3/4 cups Sugar

· 1/2 cup Applesauce

· 1/2 cup Canola oil

· 3large Eggs

· 3ripe (yellow peel) Chiquita Bananas

· 1 cup fresh or canned crushed Pineapple with juice

· 1 cup chopped Nuts (walnuts or pecans), toasted if desired

· 1 tsp. Vanilla

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

· 1(8-oz.) package Cream Cheese, softened

· 1/2 cup Butter, softened

· 1 lb. Powdered sugar

· 1/2 cup chopped Nuts (walnuts or pecans), toasted if desired

Instructions for: Best Light Hummingbird Chiquita Banana Cake Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl beat together the sugar, applesauce and oil. Add the eggs, one at a time, then until thick and light, about 4 minutes. Gently stir in the flour mixture. Fold in the bananas, pineapple, nuts and vanilla. Evenly divide the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake layers comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove cakes from pans and allow to cool completely on baking racks. Prepare cream cheese frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Place a teaspoon of frosting in the center of a cake serving plate, then center on cake layer on top of the frosting. This will help hold the cake in place. Brush off loose crumbs then frost the top of the cake layer. Repeat with the other two cake layers, then frost the sides of the cake. Smooth the top layer of frosting and sprinkle with nuts.

Lighter variation:
Decrease nuts to ½ cup. Bake cake in a tube pan at 325 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes. Cool, remove from pan and dust with powdered sugar instead of the cream cheese frosting. Traditional variation: For the cake, omit applesauce and increase oil to 1 ½ cups. For the frosting increase the cream cheese to 16 oz.

Serving Suggestions:
Display cake on a glass pedestal cake stand.

Beverage Pairings:
Try with milk or a mug of your favorite coffee.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Calories 510; Total Fat 26 g (Sat 8 g, Trans 0 g, Poly 8 g, Mono 8 g); Cholesterol 70 mg; Sodium 210 mg; Potassium 180 mg; Total Carbohydrates 69 g; Dietary Fiber 2 g; Total Sugars 50 g; Protein 6 g. Percent Daily Value: Vitamin A 8%; Vitamin B6 8%; Vitamin C 6%; Vitamin D 0%; Calcium 4%; Iron 10%.





Try not to take a long look at the above nutrition facts or you will never make it, and I can assure you will be sorry because it is absolutely amazing!! I had nothing but comments on it at the party, and there was none left so I don’t think they were lying. :) Yummy yummy yummy, and really nothing beats a home-made cream cheese frosting!



 

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