A light mousse cake with tropical flavours of mango, passion fruit, pineapple and banana. Contains nuts for a little extra crunch.
Equipment:
Baking tin – 23cm
Baking tin – 18cm
Biscuit cutter – 6cm & 8.5cm
Silicone hemisphere moulds – 3.5cm diameter
Piping bag
Acetate
Clingfilm
Hummingbird Cake Ingredients:
Here is the original recipe from 1978. I have made a few changes to accommodate more modern tastes and ingredients.
Self raising flour – 300g
Baking powder – 1/4tsp
Sugar – 50g
Cinnamon – 1tsp
Eggs – 2
Vegetable oil – 200ml
Vanilla extract – 1tsp
Pineapple rings – 150g (about 3 rings)
Banana – 260g
Pecans (chopped) – 80g
Walnuts (chopped) – 80g
Hummingbird Cake Instructions:
Preheat oven to 170 C Fan.
Sift the flour, sugar and cinnamon together, put to one side. Mix the egg and vegetable oil, and out to one side. Mush the banana and pineapple rings in a blender, and put to one side.
Add the dry flour mix to the egg and oil mix. Stir gently until well mixed. Add in the banana and pineapple puree. Then fold in the pecans and walnuts.
Bake in a 23cm tin for 55 minutes.
Leave to cool in tin, then turn out, wrap in clingfilm and put into the fridge overnight. Cut into 2 even layers before using.
Mango and Passion Fruit Jelly Ingredients:
Mango (pealed and chopped) – 200g
Cold water – 80ml
Passion fruit coulis – 230g
Agar agar flakes – 2tbsp + 1/2tsp
Mango and Passion Fruit Jelly Instructions:
Prepare an 18cm ring by tightly pulling clingfilm over the bottom, do the same to a 6cm ring (I use a biscuit cutter).
Also prepare a silicone hemisphere mould.
Puree the mango in a small blender, then add the passion fruit coulis.
Put the cold water into a pan on the hob sprinkle over the agar agar flakes, use a whisk to stir. Then bring to boil, keep stirring and continue to boil until all the flakes have dissolved.
Whisk in the mango and passion fruit blend, and simmer on the hob for a few minutes to be sure that the agar agar has dissolved.
Pour into 9 hemisphere moulds (3.5cm diameter). Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons into the prepared biscuit cutter. Pour the rest into the 18cm ring. Put all these into the freezer for 1 hour.
Cream Cheese Mousse Ingredients:
Powder gelatin (bloomed in 90ml of water) – 15g
Double cream (cold) – 450ml
Icing sugar – 4 tbsp
Cream cheese (room temperature) – 375g
Cream Cheese Mousse Instructions:
Prepare an 8.5cm ring by tightly pulling clingfilm over the bottom (I use a biscuit cutter).
Also prepare a piping bag – no nozzle needed.
Whisk the cold double cream until increased in size but not stiff. Add in the icing sugar.
In a separate bowl whisk the cream cheese. Melt the gelatin in the microwave in short bursts of 10 seconds, being careful not to overheat. Add this into the cream cheese and whisk again. Then fold in the whipped cream.
Fill the 7cm biscuit cutter with some mousse. Put into the freezer.
Cake Assembly Instructions:
Line a 23cm baking ring with acetate on the sides.
First put in 1 layer of the hummingbird sponge. Then get the jelly hemispheres out of the moulds, cut each one in half, and arrange them around the circumference of the sponge making sure that they are plush against the acetate lining.
Use the piping bag to pipe the cream cheese mousse over the sponge and jelly. Then put in the remaining layer of hummingbird sponge. Then pipe more mousse over it.
Remove the jelly from the 18cm mould, and put onto the middle of the cake. Pipe the remaining mousse around it, use a pallet knife to smooth and flatten. Put the cake into the fridge to set.
