hummingbird cake

As I was flipping through the April 2010 issue of the "Food Network Magazine," I came across this recipe. And I was so excited because I had all the ingredients just sitting there in my kitchen ready to be used! This doesn't happen often, as many times I realize I will need a trip to Kampala in order to pick up certain ingredients that I can't get in Masaka. For this one, I didn't have to step out of my house!

The recipe below makes two round cakes to stack on top of each other. But I halved the recipe and just made a single layer.

Hummingbird Cake

*adapted from the Food Network Magazine

2 3/4 C. flour

1 C. pecan pieces

3 ripe bananas, chopped

1/2 C. freshly chopped pineapple

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 3/4 C. sugar

1 C. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350. Butter two round cake pans and dust with flour.

Roast pecans in oven on a baking sheet until toasted and fragrant (approx. 8 minutes). Then toss with the bananas, pineapple, and 1/2 C. flour.

Whisk remaining 2 1/4 C. flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda, and salt.

Beat eggs, sugar, and oil in a separate bowl until thick and light.

Sprinkle flour mixture over egg mixture, and gently fold to make a thick batter. Fold in the pecan-fruit mixture, and spread batter in prepared pans.

Bake until cakes are firm and toothpick inserted comes out clean (approx. 50 minutes).

Let cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn onto cooling racks.

When cakes are cool, ice with cream cheese frosting.*

*I completely cheated and used store-bought cream cheese frosting, but that's only because I can't get cream cheese here! BUT, it was cheaper than making it from scratch, and tasted pretty darn good!

Batter should be quite thick

ENJOY!