Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients:
3 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
3 Eggs, well beaten
1 1/4 cups Salad Oil
1 1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla
8-oz. can Crushed Pineapple
3/4 cup Black Walnuts
3/4 cup Pecans
2 cups Bananas, chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
2 8-oz. packages Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Butter, softened (NOT margarine)
2 16-oz. packages Confectioners' Sugar
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla
1 cup Pecans, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350-F degrees and lightly oil, then dust with flour, three 9-inch round cake pans; set aside.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.

Beat eggs and salad oil with mixer; add to the dry ingredients, stirring with a spoon to blend until moistened. (Do not beat with the mixer.)

Stir in the vanilla, pineapple, and nuts. Finally, add the bananas.

Pour cake batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done.

Cool cake in pans for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack to finish cooling. Cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

To prepare the frosting, combine cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. Cream until smooth. Add Powdered Sugar, beating with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in Vanilla, blend again.

Frost the top of all three layers, stack, and then frost the sides. Carefully draw a circle on the top layer with a toothpick and fill in the circle with the chopped Pecans. Slice to serve.

Caroline