I like spice cakes and I like cakes with fruit in them. This has both and it’s a good one. This cake is also known as a “Hummingbird Cake”. In Jamaica a hummingbird is called a “doctor bird” presumably because it hovers over a flower like a doctor tending a patient. If somebody’s invited to a potluck and says they’ll bring a Doctor Bird, this is what they mean.
Doctor Bird (or Hummingbird) Cake
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ cups cooking oil (canola, corn oil, peanut oil, etc.)
3 eggs, beaten
1½ cups crushed pineapple with juice
1½ cups mashed bananas
1 cup chopped nuts
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- Mix eggs and oil in a mixing bowl with a large spoon.
- Add the dry ingredients, a third at a time.
- Add the remaining ingredients.
- Mix lightly.
- Bake in a greased and floured baking pan for about thirty minutes or until the cake is done i.e. doesn’t shimmer in the middle when you shake it slightly.
- Frost the cake with a glaze, whipped cream, or 8 oz. of cream cheese.
