Hummingbird Cake

One of my Grandmother's favorite things to do was to browse the newspapers for recipes. She used to cut them out and save them for some day when she wanted to whip up something different. When I found her big envelope of recipes (and there were a lot of them) I found this recipe. It's a classic. And for those friends of mine who say " I can't bake", this is for you because you just dump all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir. 


3 Cups self-rising flour
2 Cups granulated sugar
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup finely chopped pecans
2 very large ripe bananas,mashed
1- 8 oz can crushed pineapple with the juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 large eggs, beaten


Icing

One 1-lb box of confectioner's sugar
One 8-oz package cream cheese at room temperature
6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) butter,softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk, or more if needed

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees


Grease and flour three 8 inch round cake pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, oil, pecans, bananas, pineapple, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs. Stir well with a spoon until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared pans.  Bake for 26 to 28 minutes, until tops spring back. Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then loosen from the pans and invert onto wire racks to cool completely.
To make the icing, mix the sugar,cream cheese, butter, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until the icing is smooth. If needed, add more milk. 1 teaspoon at a time to achieve the consistency for spreading. Ice between the cooled layers, and on the sides and top of cake. Sprinkle the top with the pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.