You can’t get much more Southern than an old fashioned hummingbird cake. This is a variation of the same recipe your grandma used to make for family get-togethers. It’s a bonafide classic!
Before we get into the cake, we do have to mention that this recipe makes A LOT of cake. When we made this recipe, it filled three springform cake pans and an entire muffin tray. But one of the best things about Southern cooking is how easily you can half or quarter a recipe. For a family of four eating dessert, we recommend cutting it by 2/3 – so 3 cups of flour, etc.
But for science, we did make the recipe as written, and while it did make a lot, every bit was delicious.
Ingredients
- 9 Cups of sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 TBSP of baking soda
- 1 TBSP of cinnamon
- 6 cups of sugar
- 1 TBSP of salt
- 4 ½ cups of vegetable oil
- 24 oz of crushed pineapple, undrained
- 1 ¼ TBSP vanilla
- 1 TBSP banana extract (or banana liqueur)
- 9 eggs
- 6 cups of diced banana (2-3 medium bananas)
Icing (not pictured)
- 8 oz of butter
- 16oz of cream cheese
- 2lbs of confectioner’s sugar
- 1 TBSP of vanilla
Directions
- Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar and salt.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix by hand until well blended.
- Pour batter into a greased and floured cake pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
- Turn out on racks to cool and top with cream cheese icing to make a two layer cake.
Things we learned while making this recipe
- Again, this is a big recipe. You’re welcome to half or quarter it. It’ll come out fine.
- You do not need banana extract or banana liqueur if you don’t have it on-hand.
- “By hand” means with a utensil like a wooden cooking spoon, not literally with your hands. Though we imagine your kids might enjoy licking their fingers…
- Feel free to add walnuts or pecans to this for a little extra crunch.
- We prefer our hummingbird cake un-iced like a banana bread or muffin, but it traditionally calls for icing. Either way, it’s delicious!
- We also like to serve hummingbird cake as a breakfast treat with coffee.
- We’ve done a variation of this recipe as muffins with a cream cheese center. Ultimately, the bake is up to you, so have fun with it!
Wanna get featured on social media?
We’d love to see how your bake turns out. Did you ice it? Or did you make muffins? What’s your favorite way to eat hummingbird cake? DM us pics of your final product, and we’ll share it!
Submit your favorite recipe
This week’s Piggly Wiggly recipe was submitted by Tuscaloosa native Angelique Crawford. Do you have a recipe you’d like to share? Reach out to us on our contact page or message us on Facebook or Instagram! We’d love to cook your dish and feature it on the Piggly Wiggly website!
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