Hummingbird Cake recipe

A Victorian cake recipe that is truly exceptional. The perfect cake to take to gatherings...it's easy, freezes well, serves many, and it doesn't actually contain any hummingbirds!

"Impress your friends with this Hummingbird Cake - a recipe that has been passed down through many generations. If desired, crush additional nuts and press them into the sides of the frosting, and put sliced maraschino cherries on top of the cake to "guild the lily.""

There are many versions of this cake.

Hummingbird cake
Food historians generally cite Mrs. L.H. Wiggin's recipe published in the February 1978 issue of Southern Living magazine (p. 206) as the first printed reference to "Hummingbird Cake." Mrs. Wiggins did not offer an explanation of the name. Evidence strongly suggests this cake was popular in the south and known by several different (and equally interesting) names.

Why is this delicious cake named such? Our investigation of historic food reference sources, magazines and newspapers confirm theories abound, but did not uncover an authoritative answer. One article we found suggested the humming referred to the fact people hummed when they eat this cake. This, of course, is possible, but it seems an unlikely source for the name of this cake.

How old is Hummingbird Cake? An investigation of ingredients firmly places this dessert in the 20th century. Pineapple was actively promoted in the early decades of the 20th century.

This is what the food writers say:
"But the sweetest import from below the Mason-Dixon line might be hummingbird cake, which has started popping up at popular baking spots around town with little fanfare - fine Southern upbringing indeed. To many Southerners living in New York, the concoction of mashed banana, pineapple, pecans, and cream cheese icing weighing more than your average one-year-old serves as a sweet, immediate reminder of home. The impressive looking three-layer treat seems like it would be tough to make, but is, in fact, quite easy; it can be whipped up in a little more than an hour. The exact origin of the cake remains a mystery. In 1978, a Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greensboro, N.C., submitted the recipe to Southern Living magazine, the Southern belle bible of gracious hostessing, and the cake became renowned. "It is still our most requested recipe," says Donna Florio, a senior writer at the magazine."
---"The Recipe for Hummingbird Cake, Food & Drink," ELIZABETH SCHATZ, The New York Sun, November 13, 2002 , Pg. 1

"IT SEEMS as if just about everyone but yours truly had a recipe for the Cake That Doesn't Last. Then a reader clued me with a December 1972 date and I found our copy in the older files. Meanwhile we have been swamped with telephone calls and letter, far too many to credit individually. Be assured, however, that all assistance was appreciated. Elizabeth Bartlett of North Little Rock, the first to reach us via telephone, said that the cake also is known as Hummingbird Cake. The bird connection puzzles me, just as it does Juliet Macy of Bull Shoals, who describes the cake as very rich and heavy. Macy also said it is a delicious cake, an evaluation with which everyone seems to agree. Virginia Raney of Russellville, who has made the cake many times, said, " Sure enough, it doesn't last!' Pat Jefferson of Paron, noting that it is a family favorite, added that it has replaced fruit cake at their holiday table. Never Ending Cake is the name turned in by Pauline Isley. A Benton respondent supplied Jamaican Cake, a title that might not be far afield considering the ingredients. Ella Sheets knows it as Granney's Best Cake. Nothing Left Cake is the name supplied by Patricia H. Downes of Jacksonville, who, with her 8-and 11-year-old sons, prefers it sans icing. More than 75 copies of the recipe have been received, most of them identical. The variations _ notably in mixing directions, oil measurement and additional fruits _ are incorporated in the recipe that follows. Cake That Won't Last."
---Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR), April 3, 1985

We wonder if hummingbird cake was named in reference to how these birds eat. These tiny creatures are drawn to intensely sweet food sources. They engage the food source quickly and disperse when sated. Some of the descriptions we read regarding how this cake attracts people and is consumed quickly reminds us of hummingbirds eating patterns. PLEASE NOTE: This is our theory, not a documented fact.

Mrs. Wiggins' recipe [1978]

"Hummingbird cake
3 cups all-pupose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups salad oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, divided
2 cups chopped bananas
Cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; add eggs and salad oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup chopped pecans, and bananas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch cakepans. Bake at 350 degrees F. For 25 to 30 minutes; remove from pans, and cool immediately. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans. Yield: one 9-inch layer cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 (16 ounce) packages powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Yield: enough for a 3 layer cake.--Mrs. L.H. Wiggins, Greesnboro, North Carolina"
---"Making the most of bananas," Southern Living, February 1978 (p. 206)

The Kentucky Derby Cook Book [Kentucky Derby Museum:Louisville KY, 1986] contains a recipe for Hummingbird Cake on p. 204. A note printed in this book states "Hummingbird Cake. Helen Wiser's recipe won Favorite Cake Award in the 1978 Kentucky State Fair."

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