Hummingbird Cake

I have a wee lil' confession:

I underestimated pecans. I really did.

For years I've been willfully ignorant of their existence. I paid attention to their more popular nutty friends: Sexy Almond, the one with the curves and the crunch; Friendly Walnut, chocolate's BFF; Popular Peanut, in high cookie, sandwich, and pad thai demand.

I admit, I was a little hung up over the way I should pronounce their name. Is it Pe-KAHN? Pee-Can? I wasn't sure, so I consulted the dictionary and found that both are perfectly fine. Methinks I should switch it up whenever I want. I'm that excited. (Just kidding.)

The point is...I added them to a wonderful Southern cake. I added them into cream cheese frosting.

I am now one happy fan.

Unfortunately, I started to run low on them, so I supplemented some walnuts to make up for the lack of volume...but the pecans still held their own. Honestly, I couldn't stop tasting the frosting. It was so delicious. 

The Hummingbird cake is full of bananas and pineapple and pecan goodness. It uses oil as its main source of fat, so it's a bit lighter than your typical butter cakes. This is a great centerpiece cake, a holiday dessert, or even a great weekend cake. You can bake a three-layer cake, like I did, or a huge sheet cake and go all out with the frosting.

The frosting is gooooooood. You've been warned ;)

Happy baking!

Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese and Pecan Frosting

*Makes two 9-in layers OR three 8-in layers OR one 9x13 cake pan*

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 Cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 Cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 Cup finely chopped pecans
- 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple, with juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 large eggs, beaten

For the Frosting:
- 4 Cups confectioner's sugar
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp milk
- 1/2 Cup finely chopped pecans


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside.
   
2. Prepare the cake; in a large bowl, stir to combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, oil, pecans, bananas, pineapple, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs.
   
3. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertips, 26 to 28 minutes.
   
4. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire rack. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
   
5. Prepare the frosting; in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk on medium speed until frosting is smooth. If needed, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to achieve the proper spreading consistency. 

Source: Martha Stewart