Hummingbird cake is a banana-pineapple

spice cake Spice cake is a type of cake that is traditionally flavored with a mixture of spices. The cake can be prepared in many varieties. Predominant flavorings include spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg. Variations A map ...

originating in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and a popular dessert in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

since the 1970s. Ingredients include

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, salt,

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fat ...

, ripe

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

, cinnamon, pecans,

vanilla extract Vanilla extract is a Solution (chemistry), solution made by maceration (food), macerating and percolation, percolating vanilla, vanilla pods in a solution of ethanol and water. It is considered an essential ingredient in many Western desserts, es ...

, eggs, and

leavening agent In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An alterna ...

. It is often served with cream cheese frosting.

History

Created in

where the dessert is called doctor bird cake, it is named after the island's national bird, the scissors-tail hummingbird (locally known as the doctor bird). In 1968, the Jamaica Tourist Board exported the recipe for hummingbird cake, along with other local Jamaican recipes, in media press kits sent to the USA. The marketing was aimed at American consumers to create interest in visiting the island. One of the first known publications of the recipe in US print, as written by L.H. Wiggins, was in the February 1978 issue of ''

Southern Living ''Southern Living'' is a lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. It is published by Birmingham, Alabama–based Southern Prog ...

''. The recipe was a hit with readers and won the Favorite Cake Award later that same year at the

Kentucky State Fair The Kentucky State Fair is the official state fair of Kentucky which takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville. More than 600,000 fairgoers fill the of indoor and outdoor exhibits; activities include sampli ...

. It was later voted ''Southern Livings favorite recipe in 1990 and was noted as the most requested recipe in the magazine's history. The Southern cake typically has two or three layers with

pecans The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

(or

walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bot ...

), mashed ripe bananas, canned crushed pineapple and a sweet

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...

frosting.

References

Cuisine of the Southern United States Banana dishes Nut dishes American cakes Layer cakes Jamaican desserts {{dessert-stub