The Hirshon Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Cake

My Citizens, the always sweet and rarely sour paragon of culinary excellence – the impassioned TFD! – is a huge fan of all southern heirloom desserts. Few are as toothsomely satisfying as Hummingbird cake, and I will share now with you an almost completely lost version of it, known as Ruby-Throated Hummingbird cake, using red grapefruit to take the sweet edge off the cake!

This version does not include the banana of the classic, but I believe it is even better with the addition of strawberries, as the recipe uses these for the “ruby throat”. 🙂

The classic version of the Hummingbird cake is a banana-pineapple spice cake common in the Southern United States. Ingredients include flour, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, ripe banana, pineapple, cinnamon, pecans, vanilla extract, eggs, and leavening agent. It is often served with cream cheese frosting. The cake has been a tradition in Southern cuisine since the mid-19th century.

Created on the island of Jamaica, hummingbird cake was named after the island’s national bird, where it is also known as the Doctor Bird cake (Doctor Bird is another name for the island’s national bird).

In 1979, the Jamaica Tourist Board exported the recipe for hummingbird cake, along with other local Jamaican recipes, in media press kits sent to the USA. The marketing was aimed at American consumers to get them to come to the island.

As printed in the March 29, 1979 issue of the Kingston Daily Gleaner (Jamaica), “Press kits presented included Jamaican menu modified for American kitchens, and featured recipes like the doctor bird cake, made from bananas.”

One of the first known publications of the recipe in US print, as written by L.H. Wiggin, was in the February 1978 issue of Southern Living. The cake won the Favorite Cake Award later that same year at the Kentucky State Fair.

It was selected Southern Living’s favorite recipe in 1990 and was noted as the most requested recipe in the magazine’s history. The cake typically has two or three layers with pecans (or walnuts), mashed bananas, crushed pineapple and cream cheese frosting.

It is unknown who came up with the ruby-throated variant, but it appears to be sadly an almost lost version – there isn’t even a single picture of it on the Web (thus the reason for the classic Hummingbird cake image I was forced to use).

I hope you enjoy this lost heirloom recipe as much as I do, Citizens! 🙂 My one tweak to the classic recipe? I add some fresh vanilla bean seeds to the rum in the filling – I find it really adds something to the final dish!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

The Hirshon Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Cake

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 3 tbsp. Baking powder
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
• 6 Egg yolks
• 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple
• 2 tbsp. Lemon juice
• 6 x Egg whites
• 1 pinch Cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• ***
• Filling:
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 1/2 tbsp. Cornstarch
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2 tbsp. White rum + the seeds of 1 split Tahitian vanilla bean – TFD prefers Appleton white rum with its tart grapefruit aftertaste as the perfect complement
• 1 cup chopped strawberries
• Icing:
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 pk (8oz) cream cheese
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 1 lb. Confectioners sugar
• Milk
• 1 med. sweet red grapefruit
• Fresh edible flowers (TFD prefers rose petals and violets)

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Instructions

1. Cake: In a mixer or food processor sift together the flour, baking powder, salt & sugar. Blend in oil, egg yolk, pineapple & lemon juice & mix well. In a separate bowl beat egg whites, cream of tartar & sugar until very stiff.
2. Fold the cake mix into the egg white mixture & stir until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 10″ tube pan & bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove from oven & cool upside down on rack. When cooled remove to serving plate.
3. Filling: Stir cornstarch into the cold water & heat gently in saucepan until it starts to thicken. Stir in the sugar & rum. Beat until smooth & shiny. Stir in the chopped strawberries.
4. Icing: In a food processor combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla & confectioners’ sugar. Process to a smooth spreadable paste. Adjust the texture with a little milk if necessary.
5. To assemble: Spoon strawberry filling into the hollow center of the cake. Spread the icing over the cake including the sides, if you are so inclined. Decorate the top with grapefruit sections & flowers.

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