I may not be Southern, but I know a delectable Southern dessert when I taste one.
And that’s what we have here.
I was introduced to this deliciousness shortly after college, during a visit to E(H)A in Atlanta. At that time, I liked baking but had not at all yet hit my stride. E had kitchen skills that I attributed to her Southern DNA. It doesn’t do her skills justice to say she was born with it, but my follow-the-recipe-on-the-back-of-the-cornmeal-box-cornbread, Indiana-raised young lady self had no other way to describe it. Not only could she make a 3-course snack out of the 5 ingredients that were always out in our sorority kitchen, and not only was she the only one to voice concern that the 20+ apple peels we had shoved in my sink disposal during a n0-holds-barred apple pie making session when I was in law school might expand because “apples are fibrous,” but – at 21 – she could adjust a cake recipe to a “bread” and back. Something about oil and flour. What the what? I didn’t even know that was a thing (and frankly, still don’t understand). She even knew how to make crumble topping without a recipe.
Hummingbird Cake hit the limelight in 1978 via a submission to Southern Living magazine, and continues to draw a crowd. Variations abound, and many have put their twist on this creation. And here is mine! Well, mine influenced by E 🙂
I call it Hummingbird Bread rather than Hummingbird Cake, because it reminds me so much of banana bread. {Also, I’m pretty sure that’s what E called it.}
And, like banana bread, it’s perfectly delightful on its own.
But this Hummingbird Bread can achieve CAKE (orrrr QUASI-CAKE) status with the addition of …
Cream cheese frosting.
If your mind is already blown, please have a seat, and add to your mental image of banana bread with frosting…
Pineapple. I don’t know how we have made it this far without talking about the pineapple.
Crushed pineapple is mixed into the batter, keeping the bread/cake very moist and sweet. Tuck a can of pineapple in your pantry for days you need a little southern charm in your life!
- 1.5 c flour
- .5 t baking soda
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 c sugar
- .5 t cinnamon
- 1 egg + 1 egg white (smushed up a little with a fork)
- 6 T canola oil
- 1 t vanilla
- .5 c crushed pineapple, undrained
- 1 c mashed bananas (about 2, depending on your bananas)
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
- bag of powdered sugar
- 1 t vanilla
- Heat oven to 350.
- Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, cinnamon) in a large bowl.
- Add the egg, egg white, and oil, stirring until the dry ingredients are moistened.
- Stir in the vanilla, pineapple, and banana, and mix until evenly incorporated.
- Spray and flour a 9" x 5" bread pan. {Many brands actually have a spray for this!}
- Spoon in the batter with a spatula, and bake at 350 degrees until the batter rises and turns golden. The pan should be just over ½ full.** Baking can take up to an hour, but check on it around 45 minutes to be sure. Very lightly press on the top - it should feel firm in the middle. If it starts to brown too much while you wait for it to cook through in the middle, take a piece of aluminum foil and lay it lightly over the top.
- Beat the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Gradually sift in powdered sugar, beating as you go, until it reaches a consistency that you like.
- Beat in the vanilla.
- Wait until the Hummingbird Bread cools to frost it.
** Your batter may vary in volume a bit, depending on the size of the bananas you use, and the size of your loaf pan. If you have extra batter, you will enjoy a Hummingbird Muffin or two!
Adapted from: this recipe from E(H)A
Tell me what you think!