Hummingbird Cake

Name: Hummingbird Cake
Yield: Serves 12 to 16
Ingredients: 2 (8-ounce) cans, crushed pineapple in juice; 3 cups (15 ounces), all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons, baking powder; 1 teaspoon, baking soda; 1 teaspoon, ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon, salt; 2 cups (14 ounces), granulated sugar; 3 , large eggs; 1 cup, vegetable oil; 4 very ripe, large bananas, peeled and mashed (2 cups); 1 1/2 cups, pecans, toasted and chopped; 2 teaspoons, vanilla extract; 20 tablespoons, unsalted butter, softened; 5 cups (20 ounces), confectioners' sugar; 2 1/2 teaspoons, vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon, salt; 20 ounces, cream cheese, chilled and cut into 20 equal pieces; 1/2 cup, pecans, toasted and chopped

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Appears in Cook's Country April/May 2014

Desserts or Baked Goods

Cakes

Somewhere this beloved Southern cake took a wrong turn. The combination of pineapples, bananas, and pecans should be fantastic. Instead, recipes yielded heavy, bland cakes.

SERVES12 to 16

TIME2 hours, plus 2⅓ hours cooling and 1 hour chilling

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

This classic Southern cake full of banana, pineapple, and pecans needed some revamping—its namesake may be lighter than air, but the original cake was heavy and greasy. Reducing the oil was the first logical step, and tweaking the leavener ...

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