Hummingbird Cake

Square image of a slice of cake on white plate topped with pecans and cinnamon stick next to cake.

This mouthwatering Hummingbird Cake is made with bananas, pineapple, pecans and more. Lathered in a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, this easy cake is irresistible!

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Jamaican

Servings: servings

Calories: 588kcal

Author: Tornadough Alli

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 ¾ 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
½ cup unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
chopped pecans for garnish optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F 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 don’t like nuts or can’t 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 don’t 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.

Nutrition