Hummingbird Bread

If you've ever tried and liked the sweet, rich taste of banana bread, you're in for a treat with this delicious recipe! Hummingbird Bread is a spin-off of banana bread with the addition of pineapple and coconut. Perfect for a spring time treat, it's a Southerner's dream!

This recipe is part bread, part loaf cake. It's easy and versatile enough to be enjoyed as a sweet bread for breakfast, a midday snack, or as a dessert. I'm just using my imagination here, but I bet it would be delicious warmed up with a cup of coffee! If you omit the cream cheese frosting, you could even toast this bread in the oven with some butter. Talk about unbelieveable! My mouth is watering just thinking about that! The hummingbird "cake" actually originated in Jamaica in the 1960s. Jamaica's tropical environment produces delicious fruits (pineapple and banana) and those are really the stars of the show here. Hummingbird bread has become a southern treat here in the states, but in Jamaica, the locals still know it as Doctor Bird cake, named after Jamaica's national bird, the scissor-tail hummingbird. There are so many variations to this recipe. The possibilities are truly endless. I like to add some coconut and chopped pecans to mine for a boost of sweet flavor and texture. But, if you don't care for it, simply leave it out!

The bread is so good alone, however, the addition of the cream cheese frosting takes this sweet bread to a whole new level. Trust me on this one. This recipe makes two loaves so there's one to keep and one to share with a friend....or, ahem, two to keep for yourself! It's THAT good.