Hummingbird Birthday Cake

Alright, I owe you guys an apology. It’s been a longggg time since I’ve posted anything. I barely posted any recipes for nut month, and am already very overdue in beginning banana month. I’m sorry everyone!

To my defense, it’s been a busy few weeks. As a high school junior, I’ve been dealing with the ACT’s, SAT II’s, AP tests, and regular finals. For those of you well out of schooling (I envy you completely), those acronyms just indicate a lot of studying and standardized testing…fun right? I was thankfully able to take a break from all of this stress for my junior prom, which was so much fun. Here’s a picture of me with my siblings, Matthew and Haley (I’m in the middle).

But now, it’s back to business. Business meaning baking of course. Despite not posting much in the past month, I have still been able to keep up with baking and cooking and eating. Over the next few weeks I’ll post the recipes I made during this period, so you’ll have to forgive me if their ingredients do not specifically match the current month.

Finally it is time to start banana month! A week ago was actually my birthday, so to celebrate my mom baked me this cake. It was absolutely delicious. Maybe you’d think that bananas and pineapple wouldn’t actually go that well together, but I promise you that they meld beautifully. This was actually one of the best homemade cakes that I’ve eaten, and I could not recommend it enough.

Hummingbird Cake

Adapted from Bakerella

Servings: 1 9-inch three layer cake

Cake:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple, liquid included
• 2 cups chopped ripe bananas
• 2 cups pecans, chopped and toasted

Frosting:

• 16 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 32 oz. confectioner’s sugar

Instructions

1. To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour 3 9-inch cake pans.
2. Prepare toasted pecans. Chop pecans in small pieces and place on a parchment covered baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes and keeping your eye on them so they don’t burn. Set aside and let cool.
3. Whisk together flour, soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.
4. Add lightly beaten eggs, oil and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
5. Add crushed pineapple and cut up bananas and stir until combined. Finally stir in 1 cup of chopped toasted pecans. Reserve the rest to sprinkle on top of the cake if desired.
6. Spread batter evenly among cake pans and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove and let cool.
7. For the frosting: In a mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated. With the mixer on low, slowly add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl often.
8. To assemble: Gently level cakes using a large serrated knife to remove any mounded tops. Place first layer cut side down and spread frosting on top with an offset spatula. Continue with the remaining two layers and then frost the sides. Store in fridge.