Hummingbird Cake

I love hummingbird cake! My first experience with it was at the Table Talk Cafe in Wilmington. If you live in Wilmington you HAVE to visit The Salt Shaker bookstore and connected to it, the Table Talk Cafe. They are both owned by 2 sisters that I used to go to church with. I love both of these places and miss them now that we're not in Wilmington! The cafe has delicious desserts!


So for my birthday, I decided to make myself a hummingbird cake. If you've never had hummingbird cake it's similar to a carrot cake, but without the carrots! I originally wanted hummingbird cake as my wedding cake, but then sampled the delicious cake we had and changed my mind. ANYWAYS! This cake is delicious, but very sweet. It was WAY too much for the two of us! Be sure to have someone to share it with!



Hummingbird Cake
Source: The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking


Cake (3 layers)
3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 C sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 C vegetable oil
1/2 C buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (8 oz) can crushed pinapple, not drained
1 C chopped pecans
2 C mashed ripe bananas (5 or 6 bananas)
1 C coconut


Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Add the eggs, oil, and buttermilk, stirring until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do NOT beat! Stir in the vanilla, pineapple, pecans, bananas, and coconut. Pour the batter into 3 greased and floured 9" round pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes. Cool in pans 15 minutes and then cool completely on wire racks.


Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 C butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
16 oz package of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 C chopped pecans


In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Gradually add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and stir in the pecans.