Art Smith's Hummingbird Cake

By wing118677

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chopped ripe bananas
• 1 cup drained crushed pineapple
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs , beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (4 ounces) finely chopped pecans
• 8 ounces cream cheese , at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter , at room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar (about 4 1/2 cups sifted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Details

Servings 12
Adapted from oprah.com

Preparation

Step 1

2 large eggs , beaten

Directions

To make the cake, position racks in the center and bottom third of the oven and preheat to 350°. Lightly butter two 9" round cake pans, sprinkle evenly with flour and tap out the excess. (If you wish, butter the pans, line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, then flour the pans and tap out the excess.)

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, stir or whisk the bananas, pineapple, oil, eggs and vanilla until combined. Do not use an electric mixer. Pour into the dry mixture and fold together with a large spatula just until smooth. Do not beat. Fold in the pecans. Spread evenly into the pans.

To make the icing: Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until combined. On low speed, gradually beat in the sugar, then the vanilla, to make a smooth icing.

Place 1 cake layer, upside down on a serving platter. Spread with about 2/3 cup of the icing. Top with the second layer, right side up. Spread the reaming icing over the top and sides of the cake. The cake can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and stored, uncovered in the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

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