Some things are just old fashioned. Some foods are too. Do you remember salted peanuts in your coke?

Mary Janes and Squirrel Nut Zippers? They were my dad’s favorite candies.

Have you ever had an RC Cola and Moon Pie? If not, I would highly recommend it. It’s life changing.

These were my mama’s favorites.

And how about these? Didn’t you just love these? I remember waiting an hour for this to be ready for dinner.

And some even came with dessert!!!

Those were the days.

I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately as you can probably tell. On that note, I’ve been reading mama’s old cookbooks from the church and town. Wow. The recipes make me smile. They are so full of memories of my childhood.

There are so many great recipes that have been forgotten and I’m not sure why. A few days ago I saw a friend’s photo of a Hummingbird Cake fresh from her oven. I remembered those so fondly and wondered why I had not baked one in decades. I decided to dust off mama’s recipe and bake that cake.

The first bite took me right back to mama’s kitchen. The white walls, burnt orange appliances. Red counter tops. Her big, sky blue mixing bowl on the table and pressure cooker on the stove. And mama standing there stirring a cube of Velveeta in her coffee. Don’t ask. I never did. Shake my head.

It took me back to a much simpler time and place. Isn’t it amazing how a bite of cake can do all that?

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 cups flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1  8-oz. can crushed pineapple,  juice reserved
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut – Optional*

FOR THE FROSTING:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1″ cubes, chilled
• 3  8-oz. packages cream cheese, cut into 1″ cubes, chilled
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

  

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°. Grease a bundt pan or three nine inch layer pans with butter and dust with a little flour. Tap out excess flour. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; stir in the pecans and set aside. Beat the sugar, brown sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add crushed pineapple and juice, bananas, oil, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the pecan mixture and mix on low speed until evenly combined.

Pour batter into bundt pan or divide the batter evenly between the 3 prepared cake pans, smoothing the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer cake to rack and cool 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

For the frosting, beat butter on medium speed until smooth. Add cream cheese and vanilla and beat until creamy.  Add confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed until incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the frosting is light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold the pecans into the frosting.

Frost cake once it is cooled. Serve immediately or wrap loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

*You will notice our cake is not frosted. We like cakes with no frosting sometimes 🙂

I like cake. I love memories. Bon Appetit y’all!