A Southern cake made popular after it appeared in the February 1978 issue of Southern Living Magazine. How the hummingbird cake got its name is unknown, some say it's due to the cake's fruity sweet taste that is sweet enough to catch a hummingbird's attention. Hummingbird cake consists of three layers of cake full of chopped pecans, crushed pineapple, and mashed bananas that are filled and frosted with a delicious cream cheese icing. This is a very easy cake to make. In fact, put away your electric mixer and just use two mixing bowls; one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients, and stir by hand.

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients:

Batter:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pecans, toasted, and finely chopped

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

¾ cup vegetable oil

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, un-drained

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

½ cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

Tip: See Toasting Nuts and Seeds. Use standard measuring cups and spoons or scales for accurate measuring.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350^o degrees F. Prepare three 9-inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust the pan with flour.
   
   Batter:
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pecans; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
   
   
3. In another large mixing bowl, combine eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, pineapple, and bananas; whisk together to mix.
   
   
4. Add the egg and fruit mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until well mixed.
   
   Bake:
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
   
   Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting:
6. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla; use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until frosting is smooth and creamy. Stir in pecans. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake.
   
   
7. Cover cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.
   
   Tip: Serve cake using a pretty cake plate and cake server for a delightful presentation.
   
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