Hummingbird Cupcakes with Pineapple Flowers
Today I’m bringing you the final recipe that Megan and I baked together at our last baking date. If you remember, we made Homemade Peeps and Hot Cross Buns for Easter and we also wanted to make something appropriate for Mother’s Day. I was flipping through my Martha Stewart Cupcakes Cookbook when I saw these cupcakes and asked Megan if she was interested in making them.
The pineapple flowers on top did cause us some problems. We ended up baking them twice as long as the recipe said and they still weren’t fully dried out. Next time I make these, I’ll definitely do the pineapple flowers a day in advance so that I’m not in a rush to get them out of the oven. A few of the slices that were thinned did completely dry out, but it’s really hard to cut a pineapple very thin so some definitely were still a bit gooey.
Even with the frustrations of the pineapple flowers, these cupcakes were a huge hit. The flavors in the cupcake reminded me of a Caribbean vacation. And of course, everyone loves cream cheese frosting! If you wanted to make these but not deal with the pineapple flowers, you could top them with candied pineapple, or just leave the garnish off all together.
Megan and I had a great time baking together again and I can’t wait until we can do it again! We’re thinking of making ice cream since she’ll be hosting next time and she has an ice cream maker! If you have any ideas of something you’d like to see us bake, let either one of us know.
One Year Ago: Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Two Years Ago: Roasted Red Pepper Dip
Hummingbird Cupcakes
Yield: 36 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Hummingbird Cupcakes
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups mashed ripe banana
2 cans (8 oz each) crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 cup unsweetened coconut
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
For the Dried Pineapple Flowers
2 large or 4 small pineapples, peeled
Directions:
For the Hummingbird Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Beat butter, vanilla, and sugar until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Continue to beat until mixture is pale and fluffy.
In another bowl, stir together the banana, pineapple, walnuts, and coconut. Add to egg mixture and beat until combined. Stir in flour mixture.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 25-28 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium-high.
Reduce to low and add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Add vanilla and mix until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
For the Dried Pineapple Flowers
Preheat oven to 225. Line 2 baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper.
Using a small melon baller (or a spoon), remove and discard pineapple "eyes".
Use a sharp knife to cut pineapple into very thin slices. Place slices on baking sheets.
Bake until tops look dried, about 30 minutes. Flip slices and bake until completely dried, 25-30 more minutes (or longer as needed).
Pinch center of each pineapple slice and shape into a cone. Let cool in a clean muffin tin to form flower shape. Once cool, flowers can be stored stacked for up to 3 days at room temp in an air-tight container.
Hummingbird Cupcake Recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
Dried Pineapple Flower Recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
I’m using this cake as my monthly What’s Baking challenge. The theme this month is Something for Mother’s Day. Be sure to check out The Boys Made Me Do It for the roundup later this month.
Don’t forget about Bloggers Bake for Hope – Bloggers Bake. You Bid. 100% of proceeds go to Komen for a Cure. Register to bake by April 30th, come back for bidding May 4-6.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m like you and totally try out recipes based on photos! I think goat cheese and fruit are always a perfect combo. The goat cheesecake sounds intriguing!
Looks and sounds amazing! I’m totally with you about photos of food – they are typically what tempt me to make a recipe.
This cake looks DELICIOUS!
I’d never heard of using goat cheese in a cheesecake, but I’m intrigued.
I, too, much prefer pictures. Sometimes you just don’t put the ingredients together in your head the right way and it comes out looking totally different than you expected. I also flip through the book faster and I tend to not find recipes unless there are pics!
i think trying something new without any idea what it should look like it rough. i love pictures but most cookbooks dont seem to have enough. i think thats why i love this blog so much, you take TONS! 🙂
i am very intrigued by this recipe. but i dont eat blueberries or peaches. is it good by itself? or is the fruit greatly needed??
Beeb – It’s similar to any other cheesecake. It was good on it’s own, but the fruit really enhanced the flavor. Are there other fruits you like that you could top it with? Strawberries and blueberries would be great!
Oh yum! I totally want to try this. I love goat cheese (and fruit) and bet this would make an amazing cake!
I like photos too, but sometimes I get a little too into them. Like the other night when I forgot to add raisins to my cinnamon raisin bread because they weren’t in the photo 🙂
Sues
I definitely prefer recipes with pictures but if a description is really good (or intriguing) or if an author points it out as a favorite… or lastly if it’s a source I trust, I go for it. With that said, I’m glad you made it and posted pictures. This cake looks (and sounds) absolutely fantastic!!!
This looks really good. I agree that sometimes I eat with my eyes. I love photos, but not the ones that look almost fake since they are so perfect. That’s why I love food blogs – usually it is just the food as it will be served.
I cook from a lot of different sources, and will try recipes that are appealing without any pics either. Sometimes it is more difficult when I am completely unfamiliar with the dish, though.
Photos! I love yours…the “cake” looks so pretty with it’s white lip and fruit piled high.
~ingrid
Sounds wonderful. I can see how it would be more of a “cheesecake” than a “cheese cake” because there’s such a small amount of flour. As we move into fall, I bet it would be delicious with a topping of figs sauteed with honey… mmm… honey figs and goat cheese!
LOVE goat cheese cheesecake 🙂 peaches and blueberries seem like another good topper (i recently made one with figs and raspberries!)
i really have to bake that cake for my boyfriend who has a milk intolerance. thank you for posting this many recipes with goat cheese 🙂
best wishes, jay, my blog: artandloveandme.blogspot.com