Best Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird cake is the South’s answer to carrot cake. Same cream cheese frosting energy, but with crushed pineapple, ripe bananas, and a fistful of toasted pecans doing the heavy lifting in the batter.

The directions say it plain: do not beat. This is a stir-together cake, mixed by hand with a wooden spoon. Beating develops gluten, which gives you a chewy cake instead of the tender, fork-friendly crumb hummingbird is famous for.

Use bananas with skins gone freckled brown. Drain the pineapple but save a few tablespoons of juice for brushing the layers if they cool too long before frosting. Three nine-inch pans give you that towering Sunday-supper look.

The oil keeps the cake moist for three days on the counter, which is good news because hummingbird actually tastes better on day two once the spices and fruit have a chance to mingle.

Pro Tips

• Toast the pecans in a dry skillet for five minutes before stirring in. Raw pecans taste flat in such a sweet cake.
• Drain the pineapple over a bowl. Too much juice and the layers turn dense and gummy.
• Cool layers fully before frosting. Warm cake melts cream cheese frosting straight off the sides.
• Refrigerate the finished cake for an hour before slicing for clean cuts through the frosting.

Variations

• Add a quarter teaspoon of allspice and a grating of fresh nutmeg for a spicier crumb.
• Swap pecans for toasted coconut flakes for a tropical version.
• Bake as cupcakes instead, dropping the time to about 18 minutes for individual servings.