Hummingbird cake

 This cake is extremely amazing and would be done at least once a month. Sweet, dense and so good. Recipe from new Jamie Oliver book "Comfort food". I was so happy when my signed copy arrived and this cake was first choice to make. However I made few alterations as I decided to bake it late in the evening and not all the products were on hand. For example on 26th of December it was impossible to get icing sugar, so I made it myself (simple salt was also missing from the shelves, not sure why).
Maybe my homemade icing sugar (read - no added starch) was too much, so next time I would add only 300g of it and maybe juices from both limes.
I used chunks of pineapple - bit harder to cut nicely, but tastes amazing.
Used simply sunflower oil, as didn't had at home olive.
We don't have self-rising flour so I added 2 tbs to flours.
Baked in one tin - it took about 80 minutes. It was dense and tasty. Rise well when using simple flour and baking powder.
Fresh sliced badly, but next day it was easier.

23-26 cm tin
250 ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
350 g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
350 g golden caster sugar
4 medium-sized very ripe bananas
1 x 425 g tin of pineapple chunks
2 large free-range eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50 g pecans

For the icing:
300 g icing sugar
150 g unsalted butter, (at room temperature)
200 g cream cheese
2 limes

For the brittle:
100 g caster sugar
50 g pecans

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease and line two 23-26 cm round cake tins. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, then add the sugar and a large pinch of sea salt. Peel the bananas and mash them up with a fork in another bowl. Drain and finely chop the pineapple and add to the bananas with the oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until combined, then fold into the dry mixture until smooth. Finely chop the pecans and gently fold in, then divide the batter evenly between your prepared tins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until risen, golden and the sponges spring back when touched lightly in the centre. Run a knife around the edge of the tins, then leave to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, to make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a free-standing electric mixer, add the butter and beat until pale and creamy. Add the cream cheese, finely grate in the zest of 1 lime and add a squeeze of juice, then beat until just smooth – it's really important not to over-mix it. Keep in the fridge until needed. To make a brittle topping, 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, spoon around to coat, and when nicely golden, pour onto a sheet of oiled greaseproof paper to set (check out the how-to video below). Once cool, smash up to a dust (you'll need about half to top the cake – save the rest for sprinkling over ice cream.

To assemble the cake, place one sponge on a cake stand and spread with half the icing. Top with the other sponge, spread over the rest of the icing, then grate over the zest of the remaining lime. Scatter over the brittle dust.

From Jamie Oliver Comfort food, 358