Hummingbird Cake
Makes one 9" cake
Ole Miss students and architecture buffs trek all the way to Mammy's for desserts like this one.
For the cake:
3 tsp. butter, softened
3 cups plus 3 tbsp. flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
11/2 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs, well beaten
6 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
For the frosting:
14 oz. cream cheese
8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. coconut extract
6 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350º. Grease each of three 9" round
cake pans with 1 tsp. of the butter, dust each with 1 tbsp. of the
flour, tapping out excess, and set aside. Combine the remaining 3 cups
flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add oil and eggs
and mix well. Add bananas, pineapple, coconut, pecans, cinnamon, and
vanilla, almond, and coconut extracts and mix well. Divide batter
evenly between pans. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cakes
comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Set aside to cool briefly, remove cakes
from pans, then set aside to cool completely.
2. For the
frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, almond, and coconut
extracts in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until
smooth, then reduce speed to medium-low and gradually beat in sugar.
3. Assemble and frost cake, spreading 1 1/2 cups of the frosting
between the 2 layers of cake and using the remaining to frost cake
completely.
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