pineapple Archives - Her Modern Kitchen

A Tropical Hummingbird Cake with fresh pineapple, macadamia nuts, coconut and banana to celebrate Wheatsville Co-ops 44th Birthday on March 16th

This month, Wheatsville Co-op is celebrating its 44th birthday and in celebration for the big event, I partnered with them to create this Tropical Hummingbird Cake and give away a $50 gift card to Wheatsville Co-Op to one lucky reader.

Wheatsville Co-op has been an Austin staple for 44 years, officially celebrating their birthday on March 16th. They have two locations in Austin, once centrally located on Guadalupe near campus (the original), and another in South Austin on South Lamar. They’re a full-service natural grocery store and if you haven’t tried some of their ridiculously delicious donuts or $5 dinner plates, you’re greatly missing out!

Wheatsville Co-op is also huge in supporting the Austin community. Throughout the year, they partner with a different local non-profit organization each month and donate $1,000 at the end of the organization’s assigned month to the non-profit. For March, Wheatsville is partnering with Austin Parks Foundation. Shoppers also have the ability to ’round-up’ their purchase total to donate to the month’s local non-profit group.

Not Familiar with the Co-op Model?

Wheatsville’s co-op model means that community members invest in Wheatsville becoming members/owners. Wheatsville’s overall purpose is to serve its owners rather than generate a profit.

And when it does generate a profit, it ‘is cycled back into Wheatsville to increase services for the owners, or if sufficient profit is made, it is given back to the owners in the form of a Patronage Rebate.‘

Anyone is welcome to become an owner of Wheatsville and all shoppers are welcome, not just owners but being an owner does come with some perks:

Co-op Owner Deals: extra savings for co-op owners
Owner Coupons
Owner Perks
Patronage Rebates: a share of the co-ops profits during sufficiently profitable years
University Federal Credit Union Eligibility to join the credit union
Vote in the Wheatsville Election for
- the Board of Directors,
- Community Action Recipients, and
- bylaws revisions and owner petitions

Learn more about Wheatsville Co-op model here.

Celebrating Wheatsville Co-op

When I thought about Wheatsville Co-op and their Spring birthday celebration, I was inspired to make something that was fresh, bright, and colorful. Hummingbird Cake has always been a favorite cake of mine but to give it a little spin, and make something special for Wheatsville, I chose to give this classic recipe a tropical makeover.

Traditional Hummingbird Cake has pecans, banana, and pineapple frosted with a cream cheese frosting (see my traditional Hummingbird cupcake recipe here). To bring in tropical flavors, my cake

used macadamia nuts in place of pecans
fresh pineapple rather than the traditional canned pineapple
coconut oil for an extra tropical treat
toasted unsweetened coconut

Texture you can see from the macadamia nuts and pieces of fresh fruit

The result was a sweet, thick cake full of fruity flavors and texture from the macadamia nut pieces and pieces of fruit. The cake appeared in texture to be a close cousin to banana bread, which IMO is just plain delicious.

Keeping with the fresh and light theme of a Spring birthday, rather than frost the cake in traditional cream cheese frosting, I whipped up a silky, light Swiss meringue buttercream. The buttercream, paired with the thicker Tropical Hummingbird Cake was a perfect match by not adding too much sweetness to the already fruit-forward cake.

To decorate the cake, I wanted a slightly feminine look for Wheatsville’s Spring birthday and chose to tint the Swiss meringue buttercream a light violet color for its base and decorate the cake with wrapped buttercream piped stars in different hues of purple, complimenting Wheatsville Co-ops own purple branding.

Recreate Wheatsville Co-ops Tropical Hummingbird Cake yourself with the recipe below.

Giveaway

In honor of Wheatsville Co-ops 44th birthday on March 16th, you have an opportunity to win a $50 gift card to shop the store! Head on over to my Instagram page and

Follow me @hermodernkitchen and @wheatsville
Like the Wheatsville birthday cake photo posted on my feed
Tag a friend who would love Wheatsville!

Tropical Hummingbird Cake

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Prep time

2 hours

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

2 hours 40 mins

Author: Alyssa

Serves: 16

Ingredients

1½ cups chopped macadamia nuts, toasted*
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon all-spice
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed banana, about 2 medium ripe bananas
1 cup fresh pineapple, crushed**
3 large eggs at room temperature
⅔ cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup coconut sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened coconut, toasted*
12 cups Swiss meringue buttercream, colored to your liking

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F
Grease three 8-inch cake pans and dust with flour. Line bottoms with parchment then set aside.
Place all dry ingredients (nuts through salt) into a medium bowl and whisk together to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the bananas, pineapple, eggs, melted coconut oil, both sugars, and vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in the toasted coconut.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. (I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.)
Bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating the pans in the oven halfway through. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before stacking and frosting.
Assemble the cake by placing 1 cake layer on your cake stand, topping it with ~3/4 cup Swiss meringue buttercream. Repeat with the remaining two layers. Frost the outside of the cake and decorate as desired with additional tinted buttercream using piping tips. Serve immediately and refrigerate any extra servings for up to 3-days.

Notes

*To toast your macadamia nuts and/or coconut, place them in a large skillet over medium-high heat and warm until they begin to lightly brown, stirring frequently to ensure they don't burn (5-7 minutes). Remove from heat and cool completely before using. Do not toast the coconut and nuts together. They will brown at different rates. Ensure you toast them separately.
**To 'crush' your pineapple, place about 1½ cups of fresh pineapple chunks into your food processor, and pulse 6-8 times. Ensure there aren't any big chunks of pineapple and do not process too long or you'll make pineapple puree.

I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m pretty sure most people have never heard of Hummingbird Cake. In fact, I have no idea how I eve know about the cake! If you’ve never heard of it, Hummingbird cake is a moist banana cake filled with pineapple, pecans, and sometimes coconut then topped with a rich cream cheese frosting.

I’ve always associated Hummingbird Cake with the South and in my mind, it was a true Southern dessert. I even made up my own little story of its origin. I always picture Hummingbird Cake being originally created by a sweet, old grandma with a thick Southern drawl wearing a blue gingham apron who simply dumped some tropical fruits into her banana cake recipe. She then topped it with cream cheese frosting since her favorite Red Velvet Cake is finished with the same creamy frosting!

As much I love my made up version of the Hummingbird Cake’s origin, it not even close to the truth. If you want to know the truth, read on, if you want to stick with my great Southern story, skip the nest paragraph!

Here’s the true story — which I learned while reach searching the recipe! Hummingbird Cake was actually created in Jamaica — which makes sense when you think about it. The cake is loaded with tropical fruits and both bananas & pineapples are abundant in Jamaica. The cake also shares its name with a Jamaican-native hummingbird species. Some say it received its name because the cake is so sweet it would actually attract the hummingbirds which feed on sweet nectar.

I prefer my story but regardless of its origin, I love Hummingbird Cake because it’s super moist, flavorful, and has a wonderful texture from the mix of pineapple, coconut, pecans and luscious cream cheese frosting.

Hummingbird Cake typically calls for a cup of oil and for most recipes, 2 or more cups of sugar! I chose to lighten the recipe by halving the oil. Instead, I relied on the bananas to bring moisture to the cake.

When it came to the sugar in the cake itself, I chose to only use 1/3rd of the sugar in standard Hummingbird Cake recipes (2/3 cups added sugar in all). To bring some caramel notes, which pair nicely with both the bananas and pecans, I used a mix of granulated and light brown sugar while again relying heavily on the mix of tropical fruits to bring natural sweetness to the cake.

Wanting to make the frosting a bit more special than typical cream cheese frosting, I chose to create a Honey Cream Cheese Frosting. I love the flavor the honey adds to the overall cake and it’s also a bit in tribute to the Jamaican hummingbird that dines on nectar.

With my fat and sugar swaps, this Hummingbird Cake is nothing you need to feel too guilty about eating. It’s a fruit & nut packed cake that’s super moist from mashed bananas, pineapple & coconut while being perfectly sweet when paired with the Honey Cream Cheese frosting.

I highly recommend enjoying this cake on a sunny afternoon on your patio with a bit lemonade or ice tea. After all, that’s how my Southern baking grandma would have enjoyed it when she first created the recipe!

Hummingbird Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

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Prep time

60 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

A fruit & nut packed cake that's super moist from mashed bananas, pineapple & coconuts while being perfectly sweet when paired with the Honey Cream Cheese frosting.

Serves: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large bananas, mashed
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup light brown sugar
½ cup shredded coconut
⅓ cup crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup chopped pecans
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (1 brick)
½ cup honey
¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/2 stick)
5 cups confectioner's sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350*.
Line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon then set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
Whisk in the mashed banana followed by both sugars.
Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and combine with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Fold in the pineapple, coconut and pecans until fully combined.
Evenly distribute the batter among the 24 cupcake liners.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, place the softened cream cheese and butter into an electric mixing bowl and cream together on high for 1-2 minute until fluffy.
Add in the honey and mix on medium for up to 1 minute.
Begin adding in the confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing on high before each new addition.
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, frost the cupcakes by placing the frosting into a piping bag or spreading on top of the cupcakes with a spatula.
Refrigerator the frosted cupcakes until serving.
Allow the cupcakes to come to room temperature (20 minutes) before serving.