BluebonnetBaker

Tex-Mex and Southern Comfort

Hey Y’all, I’m Amber!

About Amber

I'm a native Texan with a passion for good food and Texas history. Tex-Mex is a way of life for me, and so is baking!

Hummingbird Cake

By:

Hummingbird Cake is one of those recipes that’s uniquely Southern, and found nearly every springtime at someone’s baby shower, wedding, or barbecue.

Rumor has it the cake’s name comes from its over-the-top sweetness – so sweet that there’s no way a hummingbird could resist it’s sugary lure.

Personally, it reminds me a lot of carrot cake, but instead of getting its sweetness from carrots, it gets it from fresh pineapple, ripe bananas, and warmly roasted walnuts. They’re each equal stars of this show.

James loved the cake for its denseness, and it’s cream cheese frosting. I loved it for all the fresh fruit and walnuts – both of which are incredibly good for you. That makes it healthy, right?!

If you’ve never had a Hummingbird Cake, take my advice and add it to your Springtime celebrations menu. Everyone could use a little Southern hospitality in their lives, don’t you think?

 

Hummingbird Cake

adapted from Walnuts.org

3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup fresh pineapple, crushed
4 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chopped roasted California walnuts

For the frosting:
1 1/2 sticks chilled butter
3 8 oz bars of chilled cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

1 1/2 cups chopped roasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 3 round cake pans with baking spray for baking. Line with parchment paper if desired.

In a medium bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, brown sugar, and eggs. Mix on high until well combined and light and fluffy. Add vegetable oil and vanilla extract and mix again.

Add crushed pineapple and mashed bananas, and mix again. Add the chopped roasted walnuts by hand.

Divide batter equally between the 3 pans. Tap each pan lightly against the countertop to remove any air bubbles. Place in the oven and bake 25-30 minutes in the center of the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool for several hours or overnight, removing to a cooling rack after the pan comes to a handle-able temperature.

When cakes are completely cool, make frosting. In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add in powdered sugar a 1/4 cup at a time, mixing after each addiction until completely incorporated and fluffy.

Apply a crumb coat to each layer of the cake, applying it thicker between each layer. Then refrigerate for an hour or more. When crumb coat has hardened, add walnuts to the rest of the icing and re-frost so that the cake is completely covered and there are no “bald” spots.

Refrigerate for another hour so the frosting will set, then the cake is ready to serve. Enjoy with a glass of Southern iced tea or lemonade.

[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Hummingbird Cake – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]

Comments

  1. The epitome of church dinners. All of the old ladies around here still get all riled up about a good hummingbird cake. I am so glad to see it carrying on. If you asked me on a normal day, I’d never pick this cake but anytme it shows up its always an unexpected treat. Great choice 🙂

  2. I could always use a little extra cake in my day and I would gladly welcome some Southern hospitality to go with it. Politeness is hard to come by in some areas around here. In fact, I think I’ll start carrying slices of this cake around with me…

    • Now *that’s* a great idea. Maybe it’d make these New Jersians a little nicer on the roads around here.

  5. I don’t think I’ve ever had this cake. It looks yum, as all things southern ultimately are! It doesn’t look like you frosted between the layers if the cake, just stacked and did tour crumb coat. Is this true?

    • Danielle, I did frost between the layers, but I was nervous about doing a ton of frosting in the layers because I never seem to have enough to do the final coat if I do that. But I definitely did add a fair amount between each layer too, when I did the crumb coat. Thanks for checking!

    • Amy, I love to take it to any potluck. It’s always such a crowd pleaser and goes far because it’s so dense.

  8. I’ve never heard of this cake! But I would like to get to know it better. I think New Englanders need to know about this one. Beautiful pictures!!

  12. MMM….I’m starving right now and would push an old lady out of the way for a slice of that!!

    That cake would make any Arkansas after church potluck crowd proud!!

    • LOL! Best comment ever. I can just see you shoving that nice little old lady out of the way for a slice.

    • It’s super good, Michelle. Maybe you could tweak it to make it a little healthier, or maybe just let the kids indulge once a year?

    • Me too, Sylvie! I researched a bunch of sites, and that seemed to be the consensus, plus I called my nan and asked her. Nans are never wrong, you know.

  17. I’ve never heard of hummingbird cake before, but this looks just lovely! It just begs to be made for Mother’s Day, I think 🙂

    • Teri, it’s great for a baby shower because it goes so far. You can make the one cake and it’ll feed the whole crowd because it’s dense and you only need small slices to keep folks happy.

  19. Looks great! How do you divide the batter between the layers evenly? I always have trouble when I simply eyeball it, so I tend to stay away from layer cakes for this reason. Any tips?

    • I sure do. Jaime, what I do is pour the batter into a giant measuring cup or bowl so I know how much I have in cups. You can even do this between multiple measuring cups if you don’t have one cup or bowl big enough. Then just do the simple math of how much batter you have, divided by 3.

      The other thing to keep in mind is that it’s okay if layer cakes aren’t exactly uniform in size per layer. The end result is going to be completely covered in frosting, and you won’t be able to tell whether or not one layer is bigger than the other until you cut into it. And at that point, do you really care? You’ll be too busy eating delicious cake! 🙂

  21. I saw your photo, and my first thought was, “Ahh, a real cake. That’s what cake is SUPPOSED to be.” Hummingbird cakes were a favorite of my little old Cajun Maw-Maw.

    • Aww, Shelly, your comment made my day. I love your Cajun Maw-Maw. I have a midwestern Nanny. They’re awesome, aren’t they?

  22. I have heard alot about this cake, but have never made or eaten it. It sounds delicious – and it’s beautiful!

    • Get to it, Lucy! Every second you waste is a second you didn’t have hummingbird cake in your life. 😉

  25. I’m so excited to try this recipe, I’ve never made Hummingbird cake myself!!! If you are ever in Chicago-Art Smith’s Hummingbird Cake at Table 52 is TOO-DIE-FOR!

    • Lauren, I have wanted to go to Table 52 since I saw that Sunday Fried Chicken of Art Smith’s on Best Thing I Ever Ate on the food network. I’m excited to know that good Southern man is making hummingbird cake too! Now we just have to get ourselves to Chicago!

  26. I love Hummingbird Cake! I always make mine with pecans, though. I just prefer them, and I was raised in Seguin, Texas (Home of the World’s Biggest Pecan!). LOL

  27. Thanks or sharing this recipe! I never had this cake before and it looked amazing so I just had to make it. It was delicious!

  28. This reminds me I haven’t made one of these in AGES. And they are so good. And yours looks great. Thanks for the reminder.

  29. This looks SO good! Posting as my entry for the cupcake carrier here 🙂 Thanks!

Archives

Categories