i had been wanting to try making a hummingbird cake for awhile, and i decided to go for it. partially because i had some bananas that were getting brown and partially because i just felt like it. the recipe was mostly based on the one found here, but i cheated on the frosting by using a store-bought can.
ingredients:
- 3 cups
all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon
baking soda
- 1 teaspoon
salt
- 2 cups
sugar
- 1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons
vanilla extract
- 1
(8-ounce) can pineapple, undrained
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 cups
chopped bananas (i didn't measure as much as use two or three small ones)
- cream cheese frosting (i used pillsbury)
preparation:
combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. add eggs and oil until the dry ingredients are moistened. stir in the vanilla, pineapple, bananas, and pecans.
split the batter between two round cake pans (greased and floured). bake at 350°F until browned and a toothpick comes out clean. i think my pans are a little bigger than the ones the recipe recommended, so it took somewhere on the order of 30-35 minutes to bake. cool in the pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, and then remove from the pans to cool completely.
once cool, spread the cream cheese frosting between the layers and then on the outside of the whole cake. store in the refrigerator.
verdict:
i did a few things wrong on this. first, i made the mistake of using the pineapple chunks instead of the crushed pineapple. don't get me wrong, it worked out just fine, but it just wasn't spread around enough. also, i may not have broken the pecans into small enough pieces. but these were merely cosmetic issues. overall, the cake was delicious! though a little dry the day it was baked, storing it in the fridge seemed to prevent it from being completely dried out on subsequent days. i would do it again!
