Hummingbird Cake With Caramelized Pineapple Coconut Rum Filling #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

Libby Klein So I got it in my head that I wanted to make this Hummingbird Cake I saw in Southern Living. Only I had to make it gluten-free. And I can't use vegetable oil so I substituted liquid coconut oil. This was supposed to be a fancy dessert, but once the cake was finished, it tasted so much like a banana muffin that I wanted to zhush it up a bit. I'd read that Hummingbird Cake was also sometimes called Tropical Cake so I had this idea to make a pineapple coconut rum filling that was a cross between the pineapple layer on a pineapple upside-down cake and the coconut pecan frosting you'd find in a German Chocolate Cake. I think the filling I ended up with really turns up the tropical vibe of this incredibly moist cake. The next time I make the filling, I might roast the pineapple in butter and brown sugar in the oven. Once again, I'd recommend cutting the powdered sugar by at least a fourth so you don't get sugar overload - but do it to your own taste. Have you ever zhushed up a recipe by combining elements of two different recipes together? Tell me about what you came up with in the comments.

Disclaimer - Read all your labels to make sure your ingredients are gluten-free. Gluten can be sneaky.

Gluten-Free Hummingbird Cake with Caramelized Pineapple Coconut Rum Filling

Serves: 12 

 

Ingredients

Cake Layers

3 cups one-to-one Gluten-Free blend (or all-purpose flour)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups coconut oil
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (20-oz.) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained, divided
2 cups over-ripe bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

 

Caramelized Pineapple, Coconut, Rum Filling

3 Tablespoons Butter

12 oz crushed pineapple in juice, drained

¼ cup Brown Sugar
¼ cup Dark Rum

7 oz sweetened coconut

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

 Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
6-8 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or rum)

 

Additional Ingredient For the top of the cake

1 cup pecans, halves or pieces, toasted

Directions

Prepare the Cake Layers: Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl; add eggs and coconut oil, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, 1 cup crushed pineapple (reserve the rest for the filling), 4 whole over-ripe bananas, and toasted pecans. *The original recipe calls for chopped bananas. My bananas were so ripe there was no chopping. I just threw them in the mixer whole and they beat down to cake batter.

Divide batter evenly among 3 well-greased (or parchment lined) 9-inch round cake pans.

Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Make the Caramelized Pineapple, Coconut, Rum Filling: Melt the butter in a skillet or a saucepan. Add your drained crushed pineapple. Cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the pineapple is starting to brown. Add brown sugar and let cook for another 5 minutes. Add Rum. Stir together well. Add sweetened coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Mix thoroughly until well combined. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla (or rum). Increase speed to medium-high, and beat until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.

Assemble Cake: Place the first cake layer on a serving platter. If you have a pastry bag, create a wall of cream cheese frosting around the edge of the cake. If you don't have a pastry bag don't worry. Just frost a quarter inch of cream cheese frosting around the edge so the pineapple coconut filling doesn't squelch out when you add the layers. 

Fill the center inside the wall with half the pineapple, coconut, rum filling. Add the second cake layer and repeat the process. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the frosting. Arrange pecan pieces however you like to decorate the finished cake.

Recipe inspiration from Southern Living.

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/hummingbird-cake-recipe

 Poppy McAllister discovers that gluten-free Halloweens can scare up another case of murder in the latest installment of this delightful culinary B&B mystery series! - Kirkus Reviews

Poppy is none too pleased when her B&B is coerced into participating in the Cape May Haunted Dinners Tour during Halloween season. Though her knack for finding dead bodies has given the place a spooky reputation, the Murder House is a completely undeserved nickname. At least it used to be . . .
 
While Poppy wrangles with some guests who can’t stop squabbling with each other—including a paranormal researcher, a very quirky pet psychic who freaks out her portly Persian, and an undercover tabloid reporter eager to catch her staff in a lie—one of them winds up facedown in a plate of tiramisu. And now she has bigger worries than getting her house TP’d . . .
 
Includes Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!
 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/