Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon
• 3 lightly beaten eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 cup oil
• 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, do not drain
• 3-4 large bananas, mashed. (2 cups)
• 1 cup pecans or walnuts, optional
• Combine flour, sugar, soda, salt & cinnamon. Add eggs, vanilla, oil, pineapple, bananas and pecans and stir just until all ingredients are moistened. Grease three 8-9" pans or one 9x13" and pour batter into pan(s). Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, until top is golden and toothpick comes out clean.

When I told Handyman that I was going to make Hummingbird Cake he asked, "are there real hummingbirds in it?" because he is funny like that! We tried this recipe for the first time over Easter weekend and it became a new favorite in our household. It's not a low calorie version, but I wanted to try the original recipe first and tweak it next time to lower the fat and sugar content. YOLO, right? Our oven is on the fritz, so we used our small counter top toaster oven to bake this cake. I cut the recipe above in half and baked the batter in an eight inch square pan, but look forward to making a layer cake with this recipe once our big oven is repaired.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 16 oz box of powdered sugar, approx. 3 and 2/3 cups
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, option
• toasted coconut to sprinkle over frosting, optional

Since Handyman prefers cake without nuts (he is nutty enough), I placed chopped pecans on one half of the batter and pressed them lightly into the top before baking. Once the cake was cool I iced it with Cream Cheese Frosting. You can sprinkle toasted coconut over the frosted cake, if desired. The bananas and pineapple make this cake really moist. So delicious! 

Speaking of delicious things, Summer break is almost upon us as today is the last day of classes for College Girl. Final exams are next week. Wouldn't you know it, she has a presentation to give in one of her classes which means she must wear 'business casual' attire and finish off the semester in style. 

Time for me to compile my summer wish lists~ recipes to try, things to do, books to read.

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