Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix together the sugars and the eggs well, then add the fruit, oil, and vanilla. Once combined, add the dry ingredients just until combined. Pour evenly into three 9” round cake pans lined with parchment and dusted with flour. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean; somewhere around 45-50 minutes or so.

Frosting

(Any kind of frosting will do, but I like adding cardamom here with a Hummingbird Cake.)

**I never use any plastic bowls or measuring cups for this; plastic holds fats and any speck of grease will mess up your buttercream.

**I wipe down all my mixing bowls and whisk attachments with a dry, clean microfiber cloth to get not only dust but any bit of oil or grease from prior use out.

***I divide my egg whites by hand individually; the littlest bit of yolk will mess up your buttercream.

Whisk the egg whites and sugar over boiling water until they reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit and just until the mixture is no longer grainy. Remove the bowl, wipe the water off the bottom, and attach to a mixer and with the whisk attachment, whisk until you get stiff peaks. Add any flavorings, like vanilla or the cardamom above. Once the mixture has cooled down so it won’t melt the butter, add it one or two cubes at a time, mixing well until you’re all done. If you want real buttercream to be white, add a tiny, tiny bit of violet or purple food coloring to counter the yellow. If you need more texture or structure, add powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want.