Hummingbird cupcakes

These hummingbird cupcakes are a miniature version of the classic hummingbird cake. Made with mashed bananas, pieces of pineapple and a touch of cinnamon, they’re wonderfully moist, soft and full of flavour. They’re topped with a creamy Philadelphia frosting and decorated with beautiful ‘flowers’ made from dried fresh pineapple. The pineapple flowers also make a lovely decoration for a carrot cake or a tropical pumpkin cake. They look stunning and taste delicious :).

Makes 10–12 cupcakes.

Ingredients for the hummingbird cupcakes:

• 120 g butter
• ⅔ cup caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 medium bananas, mashed
• 50 ml kefir or buttermilk
• 225 g plain flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• 5 pineapple rings from a tin, drained and cut into small pieces (or use fresh pineapple)

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until fully incorporated. Fold in the mashed bananas and the kefir (or buttermilk). At this stage, the mixture may look slightly curdled – this is perfectly normal. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon directly into the bowl. Fold together with a spatula just until combined. Do not overmix. Finally, fold in the drained pineapple pieces.

Line a standard muffin tin with paper cases. Fill each case to about four-fifths full, leaving roughly 1 cm below the rim, then level the tops.

Bake at 170°C for 25–30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Ingredients for the philadelphia frosting:

• 150 g Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
• 50 g butter, at room temperature
• ⅔–¾ cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Place the butter, icing sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the cream cheese in three additions, beating continuously until smooth and well combined.

Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large plain round nozzle. Holding the nozzle directly over the centre of each cupcake, pipe a generous swirl of frosting. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes and decorate with the dried pineapple flowers.

Ingredients for the dried pineapple flowers (makes 20–25):

• 1 fresh pineapple

Peel the pineapple and remove the eyes. Slice it very thinly—the knife blade should almost be visible through each slice. Arrange the slices on baking trays lined with baking paper and dry them at 100°C for about 60 minutes, turning them halfway through so they dry evenly. If they are not completely dry, continue drying for a little longer.

Once out of the oven, place each pineapple slice into the cups of a muffin or mini muffin tin to give it a flower shape. Leave for several hours, or preferably overnight, until the shape is set.

Enjoy!