Hummingbird Cake

Rumor has it that this recipe was named the "hummingbird cake" because those who had a delicious slice spent the rest of their days happily humming.  It's a banana, pineapple, and walnut cake with layers of cream cheese buttercream icing.  What's not to love?

I actually made this cake for my birthday last month, but I'm just now getting around to posting it.  I adapted my recipe from the one that appears in Saveur.  The magazine indicates that this cake has its origins with Edna Lewis, an African American southern cooking extraordinaire from Virginia who lived most of her adult life in New York City.

My first piece of hummingbird cake was a magnificent experience at Maxie B's, a bakery in Greensboro, NC.  In honor of that fantastic Carolina cake shop, here's Ryan Adams singing "Oh My Sweet Carolina."  

Ingredients:
*Adapted from Saveur
Cake Batter:
--3 c. flour, + extra for flouring your cake pans
--1 tbsp. cinnamon
--1 tsp. baking soda
--pinch of salt
--3 tbsp. unsalted butter, + extra for buttering pans
--4 large eggs, beaten
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--1 c. crushed pineapple
--4 ripe bananas, mashed
--1 c. brown sugar
--1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
--1 c. finely chopped pecans
--1 c. canola oil

Icing:
--3/4 c. unsalted butter, chilled
--3 8-oz packages of cream cheese
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--1 vanilla bean, seeded
--2 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar
--1 c. chopped pecans (for sprinkling on top of the icing)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter Line two 9" or 10" round cake pans and dust with flour so that the flour covers all of the butter.  Gently tap out any excess flour.  Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and set aside.

In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and smooth.  Add the crushed pineapple, bananas, and canola oil.  Continue to beat until combined.  Sift in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Mix on low until combined.  At the end, add in the chopped pecans.

Divide your batter evenly between your two prepared cake pans.  Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, or about 55 minutes.  Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then remove them from the cake pans.  Set aside to continue cooling.  While the cakes are cooling, make your icing.

Clean your standing mixer.  With the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 3 minutes, or until it's very smooth.  Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and vanilla bean seeds and beat for another 1-2 minutes.  Slowly add the confectioner's sugar on low speed until it's incorporated.  Then increase the speed to medium-high until the icing is firm but fluffy.

On a cake stand, place a small dollop of the icing and set the first cake on top (the icing will hold it in place).  Spread about 1/3 of the icing over the first cake layer, then generously sprinkle chopped pecans onto the icing.  Add the second cake layer on top.  Add another 1/3 of the icing and cover the cake completely, tops and sides.  With the remaining 1/3 of the icing, decorate the cake however you'd like.  I used an icing bag with a star tip.  Sprinkle remaining pecans all over the cake.

Serve!  And can I just say that this cake also makes for a delicious breakfast and coffee-time treat.