the ultimate carrot hummingbird cake
by Bella Black
Okay. This cake takes all my favorite elements of carrot cake and hummingbird cake and smashes them all together in a NEXT LEVEL recipe. It uses no animal products at all and I’ll also include some tips for decorating! The recipe will have 3 main parts. The cake, the frosting, and the garnishes. It’s a long recipe so but it’s totally worth it.
PART ONE: THE CAKE
INGREDIENTS
the dry stuff…
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour-1 tbsp ground cinnamon- 1/2 tsp ground cloves-1/2 tsp ground ginger-1/4 tsp ground all spice *pro-tip- you can replace all these spices with pumpkin pie spice if you want*- 2 tsp baking soda- 1 tsp baking powder-1 tsp saltthe wet stuff…
- 2 medium bananas, very ripe (like banana bread ripe) & mashed until smooth- 1 cup coconut sugar (if you aren't vegan, do 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar) - 1 cup of neutral oil- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar- 1 tsp vanilla extract the mix ins…
- 2 cups peeled and finely shredded carrots- 1 14 oz can of crushed pineapple, slightly drained (save some of the pineapple juice if you can)- 3/4 cup shredded dried coconut - 1/2 cup toasted walnuts (toast these up in a dry pan on low heat, you can leave them out if you don't dig it) -1/4 cup raisins (golden or regular or just leave these out if you're not into it) MAKE THE CAKE
Get two 9 inch round pans and grease them with whatever you usually use. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl mix together all of your dry ingredients and set aside.
In another bowl combine together your mashed banana and sugar. Whip these together until very well combined and creamy, either by hand or with an electric mixer. Then add your oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract and mix some more until it all comes together.
Toss your wets into your drys and mix just enough to combine (like don’t over mix it, you still got mixing to do). Then add your shredded carrots, crushed pineapple, coconut, raisins, and walnuts. If things look a little dry you can add some of that reserved pineapple juice. This should be a bit thick and chunky… like me.
Pour batter into your pans and cook on the middle rack for 40 minutes. Test with a toothpick and if you get some wet bits sticking to it then just put it back in for another 5-10 minutes.
Let your cakes cool inside the pans to retain moisture.
PART TWO: THE FROSTING
This recipe makes A LOT of frosting cuz I’m just that kind of lady. This will be enough to frost between the layers and cover the whole top and sides. Usually I just frost the top and between the layers… kind of “naked” style. If you’re going for that then you’ll probably just need half of this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
-2 (8 oz) package of vegan cream cheese, softened (I like tofutti the best for this) - 1/2 cup melted plant butter (this is equal to 1 stick, I like earth balance for this) - 1/4 cup maple syrup- 2-4 cups of confectioners sugar ( Wholesome brand is vegan) MAKE THE FROSTING
Take your cream cheese out of the refrigerator for about an hour to soften.
Melt your butter and add to a bowl with the maple syrup. Using an electric mixer beat butter, maple syrup and cream cheese together… it should be pretty loose.
Add confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time until the consistency of your choosing is reached. If you like a thinner frosting then just add 1 or 2. If you want it thick and spreadable, go for more.
***I like this frosting to be spreadable, but if you leave it out in a hot kitchen, outside at a picnic, or at room temperature for too long- it may become pretty soft and melty. Typically I frost the cake, then return it to the refrigerator until I’m about 30 minutes from serving. Then I take the whole thing out and add my decorations/garnishes as the cake comes to room temperature***
PART THREE: THE GARNISHES
So I like to decorate this cake with some beautiful edible garnishes. I use all the same ingredients that are INSIDE the cake so that it not only tastes good, but gives you a little hint about what you’re about to eat. I usually do a little controlled scatter of these on top, creating a little arc on one side of the cake (kinda like a crescent moon) but you could totally arrange them in a pattern, or cover the whole cake with them. Use all of them or just a few… it’s really up to you.
Things I like to decorate with:
- candied pineapple & ginger, torn into 1/2 inch pieces- toasted walnuts & toasted shredded coconut- a dusting of cinnamon (cover part of the cake with a sheet of paper to create a straight line, or create a stencil) - candied carrots- here's a little mini recipe for those...I like to use the multi colored baby carrots that you sometimes see in markets. I slice them extremely thin using a mandolin so that they look like little carrot coins. Then in a saucepan I combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer. I throw all the carrots in to cook for about 15 minutes. They'll soften and be infused with the sugar. Then I lay them all out onto a parchment lined baking sheet, making sure to separate each one so that they aren't all stuck together. Let them dry out and they end up being a little chewy. If you want them to be crispy, just put them in a very low (like 250°F oven) for a few minutes until they dry out further and become translucent. You can also do this with long ribbons of carrots. Just use a peeler to get your strips, cook in the sugar syrup, and then let them dry either straight or wrapped up into little bundles. Really you can let your imagination run wild. I LOVE using different colored carrots here for some super cool color contrasts.