No Hummingbirds were Harmed in the Making of this Cake! Promise.

Another tea. Another table full of delicious goodies. I tried out a new recipe on a brave friend that didn't mind playing guinea pig yesterday. I didn't feel like it was much of a risk since the Queen of "butter" herself had this recipe in her cookbook, Paula Deen Celebrates.

Hummingbird Cake is not made from tiny hummingbird carcasses. Nor is it made from hundreds of tiny hummingbird eggs (I'm giggling over the thought of cracking open hundreds of teensie eggs). Nope. No one really knows why it is called this, but there are several theories. If you are really bored, read here.

The only change I made was that I lightly oven toasted the 1/2 cup of chopped pecans that went on top of the cake. I also used fresh pineapple. I had to borrow another cake pan from a neighbor since I do not own 3 cake pans. Who does? The clean pan went back to its home with a sampling of this cake inside. Confession: I made the mistake of not noticing that it was "self-rising" flour and my cake was a little dense. Don't make that mistake! I'm posting the picture of someone else's cake since mine didn't look that good. It was still gone in 3.2 seconds after it was baked and iced. Guess I will just have to try again. A cheer goes up from the crowd.

HUMMINGBIRD CAKE
(from Paula Deen Celebrates cookbook)

3 Cups self-rising flour
(Note: one cup self-rising flour equals: 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, plus 1/8 teaspoons salt)2 Cups granulated sugar
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 very ripe large bananas – mashed
1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple (I used fresh)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
4 large eggs, beaten

ICING RECIPE
1 pound box confectioners’ sugar
8oz package cream cheese- room temp
6 tbs butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbs milk, more if needed
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I slightly toasted them in the oven)

Preheat oven to 325

Grease and flour three 8 inch round cake pans. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, oil, 1/2 cup pecans, bananas, pineapple, vanilla, cinnamon and beaten eggs. Stir well until smooth.

Pour batter into the 3 pans and bake for 26-28 min, or until tops spring back. Let cool in pans for 10 min. Then cool on racks completely.

Make the icing by mixing the sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla and 1 tbs milk in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Mix until smooth. If needed add more milk, 1 tsp at a time for proper spreading consistency. Ice between each layer and on the top and sides. Sprinkle the top with pecans. Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy!