Hummingbird Cupcakes

Why haven't I heard about this marvelous-sounding confection before? The Hummingbird Cake recipe is Southern Living's most requested recipe of all time. I grew up in the South, and I always flipped through my mom's Southern Living Magazine. I have to admit, the first time I heard the ingredients listed I thought it sounded odd - a can of pineapple mixed with cinnamon bananas and pecans- gross! Then I thought, wait a minute, I LOVE pineapple upside down cake, so the more I thought about these, the more they intrigued me. Doing a little googling, I've realized I am not alone.

Apparently, Hummingbird Cake is younger than me (at least in print). Recipes vary slightly, but all the elements are there in each one. If you want to know more about the cake, you can read all about them on the following sites:

• The Food Timeline



• The Joy of Baking.

I first ran across these when I stumbled onto The Cupcake Bakeshop. She said she has made them about 20 times. Then I pulled out a book we have a library, Southern Cakes.

Hummingbird Cupcakes (adapted from Hummingbird Cake recipe in Southern Cakes)
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 8oz can crushed pineapple, do not drain
2 Cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium-sized bananas)
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange 24 foil baking cups on a large sheet pan (or line muffin tins with paper cups). Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, and use a fork to mix well.

Mix in the beaten eggs, oil, vanilla, pineapple, bananas, and pecans (the recipe doesn't say to mix those together separately, but I did). Mix well, stirring gently just enough to form a thick, nubby batter.

Divide evenly between cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test.

Cook cupcakes on wire racks.

Although the frosting in the book sounded great, I did not follow it exactly because it called for 1/2 cup more pecans. I would have used them, but Brian had to help crack open pecans (direct from the streetz of the OC, baby!), and it was getting too tedious to come up with 1/2 a cup more. So here's how I made the frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

With a mixer, combine all ingredients on medium-high speed. Test consistency, and add more sugar until it gets to desired consistency.

If you so choose, you can add the following step: Remove whisk attachment from mixer. Lick. Yum.

Once cupcakes are cool, slather on frosting.

I made these for a co-worker's baby shower, and they seemed to go over well. I liked them! They tasted like moist banana bread, and the pineapple wasn't all that discernible.

I will definitely makes these again! (*The photo was taken with my camera phone - so no flash and bad lighting).