This mouthwatering Hummingbird Cake is made with bananas, pineapple, pecans and more. Lathered in a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, this easy cake is irresistible!
This Hummingbird Cake is one of the most popular cakes down South and after we started making it, I have no doubt why- it’s incredible! One of those cakes that you will keep on making again and again.
The mixed flavors from the ripe banana and sweet pineapple with the thick cinnamon cream cheese frosting are so amazing together that it really makes one of the best desserts.
My mom brought this recipe up with her from when she lived in Mississippi and I made tweaks over the years to make it my own and everyone absolutely just adores it!
This cake is like a lighter texture version of banana bread but with more fancy flavors from the addition of cinnamon, pineapple, and pecans.
Sometimes it’s hard to limit myself to just one piece, especially when it’s almost like a little trip to a tropical paradise with every bite. Trust me you’ll want to take bite after bite with this one.
Obviously you know how much we love cakes around this joint, and if I were to say, this Hummingbird Cake is probably in my top 5 favorites of all time. Try it out and you’ll see why!
Some of our other favorite cake recipes we have on our site include: Lemon Poppy Seed Cake, Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cake and Easy Peach Cake.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- The flavors in this cake work perfectly with one another and the contrast with the pecans is amazing.
- This is a dense and moist cake with a fantastic texture!
- Great for holidays, special occasions or to make just because.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM)
All-purpose flour
Ground cinnamon
Baking soda
Salt
Granulated sugar
Vegetable oil
Eggs
Mashed banana
Crushed pineapple
Vanilla extract
Chopped pecans
Cream cheese
Unsalted butter
Powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE A HUMMINGBIRD CAKE, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF and spray a 9×13-inch dish with baking spray and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar with the vegetable oil, the mixture will be lumpy.
- Whisk in the eggs until smooth in the wet ingredient bowl.
- Add in the mashed banana, pineapple, and vanilla, and whisk it all together until smooth.
- Slowly stir in the flour mixture until combined with no dry patches.
- Mix in the pecans and spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake will be a beautiful golden brown.
- Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
- Once it’s cooled, make the frosting by adding the cream cheese and the butter into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can also use a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Whip the ingredients together until smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar a little at a time until it’s fully combined. Add in the vanilla and cinnamon and stir to mix together. Using a medium speed, whip for 3 minutes or until it’s light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting on top fo the cake and garnish with more pecans if desired. Slice and serve your cake.
WHY DO THEY CALL IT A HUMMINGBIRD CAKE?
WHAT DOES A HUMMINGBIRD CAKE TASTE LIKE?
IS HUMMINGBIRD CAKE A SOUTHERN THING?
DO I HAVE TO USE A CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING?
No, this is just a personal preference of ours that we have made over the years that we absolutely love and really brings out the flavors in the cake itself.
You can also use regular cream cheese frosting, vanilla buttercream, or brown sugar frosting would all be wonderful.
HOW TO STORE:
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- I love the texture that the pecans add to the homemade cake but if you donโt like nuts or canโt eat them you can omit them.
- I think the fluffy cinnamon cream cheese frosting on top is amazing, but you can also use regular cream cheese frosting, vanilla buttercream, or brown sugar frosting as well.
- You can swap in walnuts instead of the pecans.
- I suggest only using crushed pineapple and not larger pineapple chunks so you get the right amount of liquid needed for the batter. I donโt suggest omitting the pineapple as it is one of the main ingredients that help make the cake and the liquid is needed for the batter consistency.
- This cake needs to be refrigerated when storing since it is using cream cheese frosting.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
- You can make this into a layer cake if you’d like. Bake in 2 9-inch round baking pans, the time might be slightly different.
IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
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Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ยพ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ยพ cup mashed banana
- 8 ounces crushed pineapple do not drain
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans
For the frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ยฝ cup unsalted butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ยฝ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- chopped pecans for garnish optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF and spray a 9x13-inch dish with baking spray and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar with the vegetable oil, the mixture will be lumpy.
- Whisk in the eggs until smooth in the wet ingredient bowl.
- Add in the mashed banana, pineapple, and vanilla, and whisk it all together until smooth.
- Slowly stir in the flour mixture until combined with no dry patches.
- Mix in the pecans and spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake will be a beautiful golden brown.
- Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
- Once it's cooled, make the frosting by adding the cream cheese and the butter into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can also use a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Whip the ingredients together until smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar a little at a time until it's fully combined. Add in the vanilla and cinnamon and stir to mix together. Using a medium speed, whip for 3 minutes or until it's light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting on top fo the cake and garnish with more pecans if desired. Slice and serve your cake.
Notes
- I love the texture that the pecans add to the homemade cake but if you donโt like nuts or canโt eat them you can omit them.
- I think the fluffy cinnamon cream cheese frosting on top is amazing, but you can also use regular cream cheese frosting, vanilla buttercream, or brown sugar frosting as well.
- You can swap in walnuts instead of the pecans.
- I suggest only using crushed pineapple and not larger pineapple chunks so you get the right amount of liquid needed for the batter. I donโt suggest omitting the pineapple as it is one of the main ingredients that help make the cake and the liquid is needed for the batter consistency.
- This cake needs to be refrigerated when storing since it is using cream cheese frosting.ย
- This can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
- You can make this into a layer cake if you'd like. Bake in 2 9-inch round baking pans, the time might be slightly different.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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