A perfectly southern cake

Why it’s named “hummingbird” no one can figure, but the classic southern cake is homey and real.

In the 1970s, Southern Living printed a reader recipe for a so-called hummingbird cake, which became one of the magazine’s most popular and beloved desserts. The layers are moistened by fresh mashed banana and a can of undrained, crushed pineapple. It’s spiced-up with cinnamon, given hearty texture with chopped pecans and topped off with pecan-spiked cream cheese frosting. This is one cake you don’t have to worry about drying out.

I made it for my mother-in-law’s birthday celebration this weekend, using a recipe from North Carolina-based author Nancie McDermott’s Southern Cakes (Chronicle 2007). The book’s a lovely, breezy read with beautiful pictures and an intuitive, easy-to-follow style. For all of us southerners who consider cake an obligatory offering at pot lucks, holiday gatherings and funerals, this sweet little manual’s a keeper. It includes numerous heirloom cakes from throughout the South, including old timers like Lady Baltimore cake, regional cakes like chocolate doberge and Louisiana syrup cake, and numerous takes on fruit cake, classic chocolate cake and coconut cake.

McDermott and I e-mailed this week about the hummingbird cake, and here’s some of what she had to say:

“Hummingbird cake … is a good one for when you want glory in a hurry, since the
use of oil instead of butter eliminates the need for the step of creaming butter and sugar together. My guess is that it draws inspiration from carrot cake, which also uses nuts and spices and sometimes coconut. The use of a cream cheese icing also lends
credence to that possibility. But whatever the origin, it is certainly a keeper. It’s on the
menu at Art Smith’s new southern restaurant in Chicago, Table 52.”

How ’bout that. Thanks, Nancie, for the insight.

Readers, also check out McDermott’s Quick and Easy Thai and Quick and Easy Vietnamese. This southerner was once a Peace Corps volunteer in Southeast Asia, where she mastered that region’s cooking. Years later, she’s brought it within reach for the busy home cook stateside. I’ll be reporting back on recipes from these books soon. Incidentally, at around $20 each, McDermott’s fun cookbooks make great gifts.