Hummingbird cake
{{short description|Banana-pineapple spice cake}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Hummingbird cake
| image = File:Hummingbird Cake (vegan) 1.jpg
| caption =
| alternate_name = doctor bird cake
| country = Jamaica
| course =
| type = Cake
| served =
| main_ingredient = Flour, sugar, vegetable oil, Bananas, pineapples, pecans, vanilla, eggs, spices
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}
Hummingbird cake is a banana-pineapple spice cake originating in Jamaica and a popular dessert in the southern United States since the 1970s. Ingredients include flour, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, ripe banana, pineapple, cinnamon, pecans, vanilla extract, eggs, and leavening agent. It is often served with cream cheese frosting.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-U1SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T3wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4653,3937958&dq=hummingbird+cake&hl=en|title=Old-fashioned pickle recipe uses cassia buds|last=Long|first1=Anne|work=St. Petersburg Times|date=5 July 1979|accessdate=18 May 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TfVRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OnIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4146,184573&dq=hummingbird+cake&hl=en|title=Consider the cupcake: A plea to return to the joys of home baking|last1=Schaarsmith|first1=Amy McConnell|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=1 June 2006|accessdate=18 May 2012}}
History
Created in Jamaica where the dessert is called the doctor bird cake (or Dr. Bird cake),{{Cite web |date=2022-08-31 |title=The Real Story of the Hummingbird Cake Starts in 1960s Jamaica |url=https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/hummingbird-cake-history |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=Epicurious |language=en-US}} 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.Kingston Daily Gleaner, March 29, 1969. “Press kits presented included Jamaican menu modified for American kitchens, and featured recipes like the doctor bird cake, made from bananas.”
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.{{Cite book |last=Byrn |first=Anne |title=American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Stories and Recipes Behind More Than 125 of Our Best-Loved Cakes |date=September 6, 2016 |publisher=Rodale |isbn=9781623365448}} The recipe was a hit with readers and won the Favorite Cake Award later that same year at the Kentucky State Fair.
It was later voted Southern Living's favorite recipe in 1990 and was noted as the most requested recipe in the magazine's history.{{cite web|url=http://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/hummingbird-cake/hummingbird-cake_2|title=6 Ways with Hummingbird Cake|publisher=Southern Living|website=SouthernLiving.com|accessdate=14 August 2014|archive-date=23 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023025126/https://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/hummingbird-cake/hummingbird-cake_2|url-status=dead}} The Southern cake typically has two or three layers with pecans (or walnuts), mashed ripe bananas, canned crushed pineapple and a sweet cream cheese frosting.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/hummingbird-cake-recipe Hummingbird cake recipe] - Southern Living
Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States
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