Healthified Hummingbird Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Lately, Mary and I have really been wanting to experiment with refined sugar-free desserts, and since we had family over for Memorial Day it was the perfect occasion to try a new recipe! We found a great recipe for Hummingbird Cake from Imma Eat That and a maple cream cheese frosting from Primal Palate. The cake was so delicious and we had to share to prove that refined sugar-free desserts can be really tasty! 

Mise en plas- or the French phrase "putting in place" 

Hummingbird cake is a traditional Southern treat similar to a carrot cake but instead using pineapple and banana to create a moist and flavorful combination! Though most recipes also call for sugar, this recipe used honey as an additional sweetener and used entirely whole wheat pastry flour. Mary and I recently bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour on sale and were excited to use it in this recipe!

The cakes in the oven!

While you may think a cake made with whole wheat flour would be dense and dry, the pastry flour gave the cake a much lighter texture and did not result in an overly wheaty flavor! We decided to use two 9" cake pans to make a beautiful two layer cake.

We decorated the cake with beaded piping and some chopped pecan garnish!

To ice the cake, Mary and I made Primal Palate's maple cream cheese frosting that uses maple syrup as a substitute for the traditional powdered sugar laden version. The addition of ground ginger added a nice subtle spice to the frosting!

To top off the cake, Mary made dried pineapple flowers that we used as a decorative (and delicious!) garnish. To make these flowers, first slice a pineapple into very thin slices. You can also cut small triangles into the slices to help create the flower look! Once you have your slices, bake them on a cookie sheet in a 225 degree oven for at least an hour (checking on them periodically). When the flowers are done in the oven, place them into a cupcake pan allowing the edges to curve up in a flower shape. You can leave them like this for as long as you like, the longer they are in the cupcake pans the better they will hold their shape! You can make a few to place in a cluster on the cake, or even cover the entire top of the cake with these lovely flowers! 

The addition of the dried pineapple flowers! 

Though our family is accustomed to eating decadent, sugary desserts, we were thrilled to receive  many compliments about how tasty the cake was! To be honest, it really did not taste like a relatively guilt-free treat! 

Can't wait to dig in!

Here is the recipe for both the cake and the frosting we used! 

     

Hummingbird Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe Adapted from Imma Eat That and Primal Palate

Ingredients

•     2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
•     2/3 cups ripe banana, chopped into chunks
•     2/3 cups chopped pineapple
•     1/2 cup chopped pecans
•     1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
•     1 teaspoon baking powder
•     1 teaspoon baking soda
•     1/2 teaspoon salt
•     1 cup ripe banana, smashed
•     2/3 cup honey
•     2 eggs
•     6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
•     2 teaspoons vanilla
•     16 oz cream cheese
•     1/2 cup maple syrup
•     1 tablespoon vanilla, for frosting
•     2 teaspoons ground ginger

Cooking Directions

1.  For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.             
2.  Grease two 9 inch cake pans well with coconut oil/butter and flour.            
3.  In a bowl, combine flour, banana chunks, pineapple chunks, pecans, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.                  
4.  Add in mashed banana, honey, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla.            
5.  Divide batter between two cake pans.                  
6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.                
7.  Allow cakes to cool completely before removing from pans.             
8.  For the frosting: Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature.               
9.  Blend cream cheese, maple syrup, vanilla and ginger until well incorporated.                  
10.  Use right away or refrigerate.         

We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you!