Southern Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

Cake

• 2- 8 oz cans crushed pineapple in juice
• 3 C flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 C granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 C Canola oil
• 4 very ripe large bananas peeled and mashed (about 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 C pecans chips
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:

• 6 sticks 3 C unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
• 6-8 C powdered sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 - 8 oz blocks of cream cheese softened
• 1 large piping bag fitted with a round tip
• 1 small angled spatula

Instructions

Cream cheese frosting:

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt on low speed until smooth, then mix for an additional 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.
2. Place one cake layer on a serving platter.
3. Spread 1 cup of frosting over top, then top with the second cake layer, pressing lightly down.
4. Spread 1 cup of frosting evenly over the top
5. Repeat the steps with the remaining two cake layers
6. Frost a crumb coat onto the cake and then place cake into the fridge for 30 minutes

Decorating directions

7. Scoop the remaining frosting into the piping bag
8. Once time is up, pipe a row going from top to bottom of dots onto the side of your crumb coated cake. Try and keep the dots similar in size and in a straight line.
9. Use the angled spatula to smush the dots.
10. Hold the spatula horizontally and apply pressure to the first dot.
11. Press hard enough so that the dot smushes down, but not so hard that it loses its shape. When you reach the crumb coat, pull the spatula away to the side, smearing the dot across the surface of the cake.
12. Repeat down the line until all of the dots have been smeared.
13. Pipe another row of dots so that they overlap the first row of smeared dots.
14. Repeat the smearing technique all the way around the cake until your entire surface has been covered.
15. For the final row, you can leave off at your last smear, or pipe a row of dots and leave them un-smeared.
16. Repeat steps going in a circular pattern on the top of the cake
17. Place in the fridge overnight to allow frosting to harden before enjoying!