Hummingbird Cake with Buttermilk Glaze Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Why is it called hummingbird cake? ›

Created in Jamaica where the dessert is called the doctor bird cake (or Dr. Bird cake), it is named after the island's national bird, the scissors-tail hummingbird (locally known as the doctor bird).

If you're not familiar, hummingbird cake is a spiced pineapple-banana cake topped with cream cheese frosting and pecans. Maybe it's the pecans that lure me in or the way the taste fools me into thinking I might just be eating a fancy piece of banana bread with a little cream cheese. Good for you, right?

Some say the cake earned its name because each bite makes you hum with delight. (True.) Others say it's because the cake is as sweet as the sugared water used to attract hummingbirds.

Extra sugar or leavening will cause a cake to fall; too much flour makes it dry.

Another story tells of a dim sum chef's wife creating a pastry with wintermelon paste influenced by a recipe from her mother's family. The new pastry was found to taste better than the dim sums that were being sold in teahouses, and the chef proudly told everyone it was made by his wife, hence it was named "Wife Cake".

An Elvis Presley cake is a single-layer classic yellow cake that's topped with a pineapple glaze. Much like a poke cake, the syrup and juices of the pineapple will seep into the cake through fork holes, resulting in a decadent, ultra-moist cake.

Most food historians agree the first printed recipe for Hummingbird cake was by one Mrs L H Wiggin. She supplied the recipe to Southern Living magazine in February 1978, but even before then there are countless references to the cake in county fair reports and baking competitions across southern America.

A bizarre form of counter-magic, the witch cake was a supernatural dessert used to identify suspected evildoers. In cases of mysterious illness or possession, witch-hunters would take a sample of the victim's urine, mix it with rye meal and ashes and bake it into a cake.

These Elvis cupcakes are insanely decadent and delicious, featuring a sweet and fluffy banana cake, creamy peanut butter frosting, and salty, crunchy BACON!

To store hummingbird cupcakes, let them cool completely, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. For longer storage, individually wrap them and freeze for up to 2-3 months.

What is the oldest cupcake? ›

Who invented the cupcake? Amelia Simmons invented the cupcake in 1796 when he wrote a recipe called “a light cake to bake in small cups” in her book named “American Cookery”. In fact, the first official use of the phrase “cupcake” was an 1828 reference made in Eliza Leslie's cookbook.

The name hummingbird comes from the humming sound their wings make as they fly. These birds' flexible shoulder joints allow their wings to rotate 180 degrees, which enables backward flight and stationary hovering.

Tarek Malouf, the company founder and Managing Director, developed The Hummingbird Bakery concept in response to what he saw as a lack of any places in London to enjoy the taste of truly authentic American-style baking.

Tarek Malouf is the founder and owner of The Hummingbird Bakery, an American-style bakery founded in London's Notting Hill in 2004 to bring the authentic taste of American home baking to the UK.

chocolate biscuit cake from the British royal kitchen

Chocolate biscuit cake is Queen Elizabeth's favorite cake ~ she would take a small slice every day with her tea, until the cake was finished, and then she'd start on a fresh one!