She was 92. Had a full life. And Loved cake.

This cake is dedicated to my grandmother, who passed away this week. We called her nana but her name was Beryl. She was 92. Had a full life. And loved cake.

Nana introduced me to Hummingbird cake when I was very young, and from the first bite I was hooked. Often after school we would go to her house, sit on the front verandah with a cup of tea and a slice of Hummingbird cake.

When we started gathering ideas for our first cookbook, we looked to our grandmothers generation for inspiration. Many of the cakes that made the cut are inspired by these loving, hardworking women.

This allergy-free Hummingbird cake is dedicated to my nana Beryl, and all cake-loving nana’s across the world. Wish we could enjoy one last cuppa with you, and of course a slice of your delicious cake.

With all of our recipes, we recommend using our gluten-free flour. You can get our gluten-free flour recipe sent to you when you signup to our email list over to the right in the sidebar, or in the footer below if you’re on a mobile.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 1/2 tsp bicarb soda (baking soda)
• 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 450g crushed pineapple (keep the liquid)
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup olive oil

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 ºC (356 ºF).
• Grease and line a round baking tin with baking paper (between 18-20cm).
• Drain pineapple over a bowl and press with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible (otherwise, your cake will be too wet).  Keep aside 1/4 cup of liquid.
• Sift flour, xanthan gum, bicarb soda, baking powder, sugar and spices into a large bowl.
• Stir in drained pineapple, 1/4 cup of pineapple liquid, banana, apple cider vinegar, oil and coconut. Mix until combined.
• Pour mixture into baking tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
• Stand cake until warm then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
• Top with vanilla bean tofutti icing.

Vanilla bean tofutti icing

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dairy-free margarine
• 1/4 cup tofutti (dairy-free cream cheese)
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method

• Using a mixer, beat margarine, vanilla and tofutti until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, add sifted icing sugar until the vanilla icing reaches spreadable consistency.
• Store in the fridge

If you want more recipes like this check out our cookbook Let Them Eat Good Cake

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and nut free.