Originating in Jamaica and named for their native Hummingbird that loves sweet flavours, these little cakes are choc-full of tropical fruits. You can also make them into muffins if you don't have a bar cake pan.
There is nothing like this cake when it is served freshly baked, with it's buttery body and the tang of fresh apricots. This is based on my Mum's recipe and the first taste always brings out the little girl in me!
As simple as this dessert is to make, its deliciousness relies on the use of Pandoro - a festive Italian yeast-leavened cake - similar to brioche, which can be used instead. You can, also substitute sponge cake.
This recipe was designed to make use of a large store-bought Italian-style Pandoro (festive sponge cake), which I turned into dessert cups in a variety of flavours - lemon curd & almond, coffee & nutella and strawberry, custard & coconut, to feed a crowd.
A combination of crisp shredded kataifi pastry, creamy custard and bright pistachio nuts is quite delectable, especially when finished with a drizzle of syrupy sour cherries.
This recipe makes two large slab cakes that can be cut into any shape to make a birthday cake. Here I turned it into a 50th birthday cake using both raspberry and chocolate glazes. You can easily halve the recipe.