Hummingbird cake

This recipe is based on Jamie Oliver’s hummingbird cake (who could resist that name!), but I cut down on the amount of sugar and made my own icing, as I’m not a huge fan of cream cheese icing.  This is basically a posh banana bread in cake form, but the icing and decorating make it a special cake for eating with a cup of Earl Grey in a tropical Sri Lankan garden - or wherever you like!

Hummingbird cake

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
350 g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
200 g caster sugar
2 very ripe bananas
400 g tin of pineapple chunks (or you can use fresh pineapple)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 g pecans

for the icing

1 tub mascarpone
2 tsp honey
juice of half an orange
zest of half an orange
1 cup fresh cream

for the pecan brittle

100 g caster sugar
50 g pecans

Preheat the oven to 175°C (fan forced).  Grease and line two 23cm round cake tins.

Sift the flour and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, then add the sugar and a pinch of salt.  Mash the bananas with a fork in another bowl. Drain the pineapple well and finely chop it and then add to the bananas with the oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well, and then fold into the flour mixture until smooth.

Finely chop the pecans and fold them in, then divide the batter evenly between the two tins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until risen, golden and the cakes spring back when touched lightly in the centre.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the pecan brittle, place the caster sugar and a splash of water in a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Shake flat and DON’T STIR IT, just swirl the pan occasionally until dissolved and lightly golden.  Add the pecans and a pinch of salt, stir very gently to coat them, and when nicely golden, pour onto a sheet of oiled greaseproof paper to set.

To make the icing, whisk together the mascarpone, honey, orange juice and zest.  Add the cream and whisk until stiff peaks form.  Watch it carefully as you don’t want it to turn grainy.

Place one cake on a cake stand and spread with half the icing. Top with the other cake, spread over the rest of the icing, then grate over some more orange zest (and some lime zest if you like).  Chop up the pecan brittle into small chunks and scatter over the top.  Decorate with a few edible flowers, if you have them.  Nasturtiums and marigolds look pretty.  If you don't eat it straight away, keep it in the fridge.

Orange mascarpone and pistachio tarts

The inspiration for these little tarts come from a German food blog called What should I eat for breakfast today?  The original recipe was for an indulgent Christmas breakfast and the tarts have a seedy pastry base with pumpkin and sunflower seeds and coconut and potato flour - which sounds delicious but as I’ve never used coconut or potato flour before and as this blog is supposed to have cheap(ish) and easy to find ingredients I’ve used a dark chocolate pastry instead - because chocolate and oranges were just made for each other.  It’s still quite a Christmassy recipe but maybe more suitable for lunch or dinner or tea than breakfast.

I used my favourite Careme dark chocolate shortcrust pastry for the bases, which has no preservatives or additives and uses real butter.  If you can’t find a similar one you can make your own, or use any good quality shortcrust pastry made with real butter.  I think they’d also be nice with a chocolate biscuit cheesecake type base (see the cheesecake recipes).

You could leave out the saffron (as it’s rather expensive) but it gives the tarts a lovely orange colour and gives a little edge to the favour, so put it in if you can.

Orange mascarpone and pistachio tarts

Butter some small tart tins and cut out the pastry to fit.  Bake in a medium (180C) oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked.  Leave to cool completely.

For the filling :

250g mascarpone
1 orange - juice and zest
a pinch of saffron
1 tsp honey

pistachios for serving
orange zest for serving
candied oranges for serving (optional)

Mix the mascarpone with the orange zest and juice, the saffron and the honey.  Fill the tarts with a tablespoon of the mascarpone mix and decorate with the pistachios, orange zest and a small wedge of candied orange.  Serve immediately.