Back in 2012, I was living in Ohio and my friend Lynn zipped up in her car and handed me The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day. She had heard an interview with Cheryl and decided that I needed a copy.
After twenty-two years serving spectacular baked goods to hoards of folks in Savannah, Georgia, the bakery just closed it’s doors. In honor of them, I decided to make the Hummingbird Cake recipe for breakfast.
Read about the history of Hummingbird Cake that has its origins in Jamaica, and is now a standard in bakeries throughout the southern United States. The cake is made with bananas and crushed pineapple, and then iced with cream cheese frosting, making it the perfect cake for breakfast. Come on, don’t judge, it’s really no different than a muffin.
I was recently in Southport, North Carolina where I happened upon this gem of a bakery nestled in the upstairs corner of the Bald Head Island Ferry terminal.
Notice that they encourage eating cake for breakfast! I was hemming and hawing about which version of the poundcake to try when the owner (and baker) told me that she could give me a half portion of each, and I took her up on it. All three cakes were superb.
The recipe for the Back in the Day Hummingbird Cake is below. Note: I decreased both the granulated and brown sugar to 3/4 cup each and toasted the pecans. The cream cheese frosting was made with one 8-ounce package, 2 T of heavy cream, and four cups of sifted powdered sugar.
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