Hummingbird Cake is a true Southern Classic. This deliciously moist cake is filled with sweet pineapple, ripe bananas, and chopped pecans. Then, itโs topped with an irresistibly rich cream cheese frosting!
This moist, delicious cake is a thing of beauty, and if you’re going to make it, you might as well go for the gusto and make my restaurant-style version of this ah-mazing cake.
You’ll find lots of recipes out there, but trust me, my Hummingbird Cake Recipe is the best you’ll ever make!
Also, if youโre a fan of moist, nutty cakes with fragrant vanilla, youโll love my vanilla wafer cake recipe. Like tropical flavors? Try this amazing coconut cake.
Ingredients for Hummingbird Cake
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Hummingbird Cake Recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How to make Hummingbird Cake
Sift the all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a large bowl. Set these dry ingredients aside until needed.
Place 1 cup of finely diced fresh pineapple in a food processor and pulse until crushed. Do not over-pulse.
**You can also use a potato masher to crush the pineapple.
In a separate bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugar and mix until fully combined. Then, add the eggs to the sugar mixture, whisking by hand until the mixture is smooth.
Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the egg mixture, blending well with a wire whisk.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula by hand until the mixture is fully combined. Do Not Overmix!
Add the mashed bananas, crushed pineapple (and juice), and chopped pecans to the batter. Mix until just combined.
After mixing the hummingbird cake batter, divide it evenly between three prepared pans. (Alternatively, you can make this into a sheet cake instead of a layer cake by using a large rectangular pan instead of separate round cake pans).
*Tap the pans on the counter to release any air bubbles in the batter.
Place the cake pans on the center rack of a preheated 350-degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the center of the cakes springs back when pressed.
Transfer the cakes to wire racks and cool for 10 minutes. After cooling, invert the cakes onto the wire rack (remove the parchment paper) turn the cakes right side up, and allow them to cool completely to room temperature before frosting.
While the cakes are baking, make the cream cheese frosting.
Start by using an offset spatula to frost the top of one of the cake layers and place the second cake layer on top, frosting the top of it as well. Then add the third cake layer and frost the top of it, too.
Then, frost the sides of the cake with the cream cheese frosting.
Decorate the top of the cake with pecan halves.
Slice it up, serve it, and watch the smiles around your table! I know after one bite, you’ll agree this is the Best Hummingbird Cake you’ve ever tasted.
Recipe FAQ’s
According to the Jamaican Tourism Board, it was originally called the โDoctor Bird Cake,โ which is a nickname for a Jamaican variety of hummingbirds called the Red-billed Streamertail.
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The story is that the cake was named after the bird because it was sweet enough to attract hummingbirds. It made its way to the United States in the late seventies, and Southern bakers embraced this delicious cake with a passion.
Why is my hummingbird cake dense?
Cakes can become dense and dried out if your ingredients arenโt at the right temperature. Make sure that all of your ingredients have time to come to room temperature before you begin to prepare the cake.
Denise
Hi, first time I have wanted to make this cake, it sounds amazing, unfortunately I have a nut allergy, can you suggest any substitutions that may work for your recipe?
Chef Dennis Littley
You could replace the nuts with coconut or simply leave the nuts out, they are not a deal breaker.
Chef Dennis Littley
sorry about that David and thank you for letting me know. it’s one teaspoon and it goes with the oil addition. I did have it in the instructions.
Chef Dennis Littley
thank you for catching that, the 1 1/2 goes with the frosting
Amy
I love hummingbird cake but had never tried making one. This recipe was easy to make and delicious
Leslie
Excellent hummingbird cake recipe!
Antonia
Looks delicious. Can crushed or pineapple chunks form the can be used?
Chef Dennis Littley
you can use canned pineapple, it work nicely in this cake
Anna
Do you drain the canned crushed pineapple before mixing in with other ingredients? I want to bake it for the holidays. Thanks.
Chef Dennis Littley
My recipe calls for fresh pineapple which wouldn’t need to be drained. But if you’re using canned pineapple, drain it of any excess liquid, its okay to have some juice with it.
Raven Cauthon
Well that was simply scrumptious
Nora
This cake was so delicious!
Jere Cassidy
This was my mom’s favorite cake and she always made it for our birthdays. I was just as good as I remember!
Kim Guzman
Oh, my drool! I think I need another slice! I’ve always loved Hummingbird Cake but this was my first time making it.
Alexandra
This is such a delicious cake.
Emily Flint
I’ve always wanted to make a hummingbird cake and your recipe was sooo good! Thanks!
Audrey
This recipe really was restaurant quality! YUM
Catalina
I need a big slice of this cake with a huge cup of coffee! It looks so inviting!
Sue
Exactly what I have been craving – thanks!
Jessica Formicola
Hummingbird cake is my absolute favorite, and this one is perfection! The combination of banana, pineapple and pecans is out of this world!