Hummingbird Coffee Cake

I've resisted making a hummingbird cake so far because they just don't feel like layer cakes to me.  All that fruit seems too heavy and, well, cakey.  But a quick search for "banana coffee cake" landed me on hummingbird coffee cake pages, and I realized this was the answer.

It sounds stupid, but I don't think I've ever bought pecans before.  I always have walnuts in the freezer, and it's easier to substitute them instead of shopping for a new ingredient.  I decided to get the real thing this time, since it's a key flavor.  I forgot how expensive nuts are in general.  Found half a pound of chopped on clearance for a price I was willing to pay, which was a dollar less than the 3 oz package.  I give up.  Guess I'll need to find more recipes for them.

I'm mostly following the recipe on Bake From Scratch.  I decided to skip the layer of cinnamon sugar, and made the glaze with regular yogurt instead of sour cream and milk.  The browned butter step is interesting.  If you decide to skip it and use melted butter instead, realize that it will increase the moisture content of the batter; you might need to add a couple of minutes to the bake time.

Browned butter

1/2 C (one stick) unsalted butter

Streusel

1/3 C flour
1/4 C light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3-1/2 Tb butter, softened
1/2 C chopped pecans

Cake

2 eggs, room temperature
*1 ripe banana
1/2 C crushed pineapple, drained
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 C flour
3/4 C granulated sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze

1/2 C powdered sugar
2 Tb plain yogurt (non-Greek)
milk to thin

1.  In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Cook slowly until browned and smells a bit nutty, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool about 15 minutes.

2.  For the streusel, stir together flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.  Cut in butter to make a paste, then work in pecans.  If I had known how sticky it was going to be, I would have refrigerated it while mixing the batter.  Not until hard, just to the point where it doesn't stick to everything.

3.  Grease an 8" round cake pan with pan spray.  I went the extra step of lining the bottom with wax paper and greasing that.  I forgot the baking strips, and the outer edge did develop a crust.  This isn't a big deal with coffee cake, but if you want a softer edge and not as much rise in the middle, wrap with a wet cake pan band.  Preheat oven to 350º.

4.  In mixer, cream together eggs, banana, pineapple, and vanilla with the paddle until smooth.  Pour in browned butter once everything has broken down.  While that's going on for about 2-3 minutes, sift together flour, both sugars, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Add to wet ingredients and stir until just mixed.

5.  Pour half of the batter into the pan and sprinkle with about 1/3 of the streusel.  Add remaining batter and top with remaining streusel.  Bake for 40 minutes, then test for doneness.  The 45 I left it for the first test was a bit much.  Every oven is different, every pan.  It still tasted good, just a bit sturdy unless it was warmed.

6.  Place baked cake on a cooling rack in pan for 15 minutes.  Place a plate on top of it and invert to remove from the pan.  Remove wax paper if used, then re-invert cake back onto the cooling rack.

7.  For glaze, whisk together powdered sugar and yogurt until smooth.  Pour over mostly-cooled cake and allow to set.  It's still going to be sticky.  Cut and serve.

Makes one 8" cake, 8-10 servings

Difficulty rating  :)