Sweet pineapple and banana chunk inside a delicious layered cake? Oh yes, I sure did!
We’ve been taking full advantage of the school lunch program during this stay at home (quarantine) season. My son’s school gives away free lunch to all kids every Monday through Friday and we are there for it every day.
For one, it gives us something to do. It’s our own little field trip into an otherwise pretty uneventful day. But it also helps the cafeteria ladies keep their jobs, so they can keep feeding their families as well. After all, it’s free – so it’s pretty much a win win – we just have to get in the car.
Every day, they pack our car with 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches (yes – every single weekday). It could be anything from cereal and pizza to pancakes and chicken spaghetti. Whatever it is – the kids have lunch covered…and snacks too…
But there’s always items in their lunches that they refuse to eat – celery sticks, apples, graham crackers – just a few items each day that I refuse to let go to waste.
This week, we had a few days where the kids got pineapple tidbits several days in a row, and, since neither of them would eat them, that meant that we had a lot of pineapple sitting in the fridge waiting to have something done to it.
So I thought this Hummingbird Cake might be a good idea. It’s a layered cake filled with pineapple, bananas, and pecans and has a sweet, cream cheese icing all over it.
It’s so good, y’all.
Why is it Called the Hummingbird Cake?
In 1978, Mrs. L. H. Wiggin submitted a recipe for ‘Hummingbird Cake’ to Southern Living Magazine.
However, before that, the cake was said to have originated in Jamaica in the late 1960’s. The Caribbean flavors of pineapple and banana gave way to to this cake’s being named a ‘Hummingbird Cake’ because it was “sweet enough to attract hummingbirds”.
What can I add to Hummingbird Cake to Make it Even More Special?
Shredded Coconut. Shredded coconut would be amazing in this cake. Just add about 1/2 cup to the batter and then you could put some on the outside of your cake after it’s iced if you want to too.
Candied Pecans. You could also candy your pecans before smashing them up and putting them in the cake or on the outside. Talk about an extra boost of flavor!
Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 8-ounce can crushed pineapple undrained
- 1 cups chopped bananas
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- cooking spray with flour
Frosting
- 16 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup 1 stick butter
- 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon heavy cream or milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, bananas, and 1 cup chopped toasted pecans. Line the bottom of 3 9-inch round cake pans and grease them well with the cooking spray. Spoon batter into them equally.
- Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes our clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely (about 1 hour).
- Combine the cream cheese, butter, powdered, sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream (or milk) until smooth.
- Place 1 cake layer on a serving platter. Spread 1 cup Cream Cheese Frosting over cake layer. Top with second layer, and spread 1 cup frosting over cake layer. Top with third cake layer, and spread top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Arrange pecans on the outside of the cake however you like.
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