Old-Fashioned Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients

Tick each one off as you go.

• 3 ⅛ cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and ½ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup (250 ml) sunflower oil and 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 very ripe bananas (≈400 g peeled), mashed
• 225 g crushed pineapple with its juice (do not drain)
• 100 g pecans, toasted and chopped, plus 50 g to decorate
• 1 ⅓ sticks (150 g) butter, softened, for the frosting
• 1 ⅓ cups (300 g) full-fat cream cheese, cold, for the frosting
• 3 ¾ cups (450 g) powdered sugar, sifted, and 1 tsp vanilla, for the frosting

Method

1. Prep. Oven to 350°F (180°C, fan 160°C). Grease and line three 20 cm sandwich tins. Toast all the pecans on a tray for 8–10 minutes; cool and chop.
2. Dry. In your largest bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
3. Stir. Add the beaten eggs, oil and vanilla. Stir with a wooden spoon just until the flour disappears — no mixer, no beating.
4. Fruit. Fold in the mashed bananas, the crushed pineapple with all its juice, and 100 g of the pecans. The batter will be thick and lumpy — that's right.
5. Bake. Divide between the tins (about 620 g each) and bake 25–30 minutes, until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the tins, then turn out to cool completely.
6. Frost. Beat the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth, then briefly beat in the cold cream cheese. Fill and cover the cold cake; press the remaining pecans over the top.