Hummingbird Cake is a traditional Southern dessert. The layers of fruit and nuts are so sweet you may attract a hummingbird while you enjoy!
This delicious Cake is packed with sweet and tropical fruity flavor, making it perfect for a Summer Dessert. If you like the combination of fruit, spices, and nuts, be sure to try my classic Carrot Cake and Lady Baltimore Cake as well.
Why You’ll Love This Cake?
- This easy cake is perfect to make when you want something that looks fancy without the hassle.
- Ripe bananas, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts take this cake to a whole new level.
Sabrina’s Hummingbird Cake Recipe
This is the perfect cake for a special occasion, cake sale, or party. It’s been a popular dessert in the south for years, and I just love making it. This excellent cake recipe stands out from others because of all the delicious mix-ins. The actual cake recipe is fairly basic. But, the additions of all the mix-ins take it to a new level and make it a favorite cake recipe that’s absolutely unforgettable.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Hummingbird Cake:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 very ripe bananas , mashed
- 1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple , well-drained
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup walnuts , finely chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts , chopped
Instructions
Hummingbird Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8" cake pans with baking spray.
- To the stand mixer add butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs, bananas, crushed pineapple, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Into a bowl sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer on low speed until just combined.
- Stir in coconut and walnuts.
- Spread batter evenly in the cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool completely before frosting. Cool for at least an hour but 2 hours would be best.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Add the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla to a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time on the lowest speed setting until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- To frost cleanly without crumbs showing through add frosting to the middle of the cake as normal, a thin layer to the outside of the cake and refrigerate 2 hours.
- Don't worry if there are crumbs in the first layer of frosting, just make sure the entire cake is coated.
- Frost with the remaining frosting, with an offset spatula then garnish with the chopped walnuts.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
To frost the cake cleanly, add frosting to the middle of each cake layer and spread it out. Then stack the layers of cake. Spread the frosting over the edge of the cake. It’s okay if there are crumbs on this frosting layer. After spreading the first layer, put the frosted cake in the fridge for 2 hours. Then add the remaining frosting with an offset spatula in a clean layer.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
The combination of sweet, tender cake and rich cream cheese frosting make it a favorite recipe that everyone is sure to love. This Southern cake is surprisingly easy to make, and you can have fun decorating it with walnuts, coconut flakes, fruit, and other toppings, depending on how fancy you want it to look. I love this simple two-layer cake because it looks impressive while still being straightforward.
What is Hummingbird Cake?
This pineapple and banana cake is now a favorite Southern cake recipe. However, many believe it actually originated in Jamaica. The tropical ingredients like pineapple, coconut, and banana make sense with that origin. It was unclear why the cake recipe was called Hummingbird Cake, but the name stuck. Some theorize it’s because the tender cake is sweet enough to attract hummingbirds.
Ingredients
- Ripe Bananas: Apart from adding amazing banana flavor, the bananas also bring extra moisture to baked goods. This cake is a great way to use up ripe or slightly overripe bananas.
- Pineapple: You’ll want canned crushed pineapple with juice for this recipe. But, be sure to thoroughly drain the pineapple juice before adding the fruit to the recipe, or it will add too much liquid to the batter. If you don’t want to use canned pineapple, you can also chop fresh pineapple yourself to add pineapple flavor to your recipe.
- Cinnamon: Adding ground cinnamon is the perfect addition to give the cake a more complex flavor. The cinnamon contrasts with the fruit flavors, ultimately enhancing the sweet flavors because of its warm, slightly spiced taste.
- Flour: Although you can use all-purpose flour, this cake will turn out best with cake flour. The lighter flour grain creates a light and airy cake batter.
- Walnuts: Use finely chopped walnuts so that you don’t have big, heavy chunks that sink to the bottom of the cake. They add a nice crunch and delicious nutty flavor that tastes amazing in the soft, fruity cake recipe.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure to soften the cream cheese before making the frosting. As long as it’s soft, it can cream with the butter into a light, fluffy mixture.
- Sour Cream: Cream cheese and sour cream pair well together to create a creamy and tangy frosting. Adding sour cream makes the classic cream cheese frosting even more rich but not too heavy for the Hummingbird Cake recipe.
Can this be made ahead of time?
This cake can absolutely be made ahead of time. Wrap unfrosted layers of the cake once they have cooled in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 4 months. You can also make the frosting and store in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for up to 6 months. The entire frosted cake will last about 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
How to Store
- Serve: You don’t want to leave Hummingbird Cake sitting out at room temperature for more than a few hours, or the tender crumb will start to dry out.
- Store: Because of the cream cheese frosting, you’ll want to store the cake recipe in the fridge. Cover it in plastic wrap, or store it in an airtight container if you have one large enough or just have a few slices to keep. The cake can stay good for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Freeze: To freeze the cake carefully, wrap it in plastic wrap followed by tin foil, or seal it in a freezer-safe container. Cake can freeze well for up to 3 months.
Ideas to Serve
If you don’t want to worry about frosting the cake layers, you can follow my recipe for Humming Bird Cupcakes instead of this cake recipe. Both versions taste amazing and give you the iconic flavors and textures of the classic dessert. But the cupcake version is easier to transport and share with a crowd.
Frequent Questions
Yes, if you prefer, you can add the Hummingbird Cake batter to a bundt pan. It takes longer to bake a bundt cake, so you’ll likely need about a 60-65 minute baking time. Keep your eye on it while it’s baking to make sure you take it out before it burns. You also won’t need as much frosting for the bundt version of this recipe.
There are a few reasons your cake recipe can turn out crumbly instead of moist. The first is over mixing the batter. Be sure to only mix the flour until just combined with the cake. Another problem could be using pantry ingredients, like baking soda, that are past their expiration. Or, if your oven runs too hot, it can dry out the cake, resulting in a crumbly texture.
Variations
- Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting: The cake already contains cinnamon flavor in the dry ingredients. If you want to increase that flavor, you can also add it to the cream cheese frosting. To make cinnamon cream cheese frosting, add 1-2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon to the fluffy cream cheese frosting.
- Nuts: You can use different kinds of nuts in your Hummingbird Cake. Try roasted pecans, almonds, or cashews. You can use the different nut varieties to replace the walnuts or add them along with the walnuts for some more variety.
- Dried Fruit: Another easy mix-in to add to your cake recipe is dried fruits. Raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dried dates, or apricots would all taste wonderful with the fruit flavor that’s already in the recipe.
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Photos used in previous version of this post
How can I use this recipe for a 13×9 size cake?
I haven’t tried this in a 9×13 baking pan, but it should work. It might take longer to bake, so check at the 30 minute mark for doneness. And if you’re treating this as a sheet cake, keep in mind that you’ll have a lot more frosting since you won’t be icing it in layers. If that’s the case, consider cutting the frosting recipe in two thirds or in half.
if I wanted to make this as cupcakes instead of a layer cake for a birthday party, do you think I should reduce the baking time to around 18-20 minutes?
If the cupcake tin is a standard size, then yes! Let us know how they turn out!