Loaded with bananas, pineapple, and pecans then topped with cream cheese frosting our show-stopping 3-layer hummingbird cake recipe will knock your socks off!
First developed to entice travelers to Jamaica, the hummingbird cake quickly became a popular spice cake, beloved for its fruit-filled, tropical deliciousness. Unlike typical fruit cake recipes that rely on dried fruits, this cake is loaded with fresh bananas and canned pineapple. Other ingredients common in cake recipes give this cake a familiar fluffy sponge to support the fruit.
Do you want to bake our cake in a pretty hummingbird cake bundt pan? Try my hummingbird bundt cake version! If you love luscious layer cakes, you adore my strawberry triple layer cake, coconut cake, and my banana pudding cake. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
Next time your bananas get overripe, heed the call of the Caribbean and give this classic Hummingbird Cake a try!
What I Love About This Recipe
Fruit cake is simply sensational! And this hummingbird cake recipe is perfect for dessert, with coffee, as an afternoon snack — or even as an indulgent breakfast. There’s no wrong time for fruit cake!
- Tropical goodness in every bite
- Great way to use overripe bananas
- Delicious with frosting or plain!
- Perfectly balanced flavors
How To Make Hummingbird Cake Recipe
This recipe can be broken down into three sections: make the cake, make the frosting, and assemble. Grease and prep your baking pans before mixing your dry ingredients in a bowl. Add in your wet ingredients until moistened. Pour into pans and bake until golden and yummy.
Make the Cakes:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of 3-9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Grease and flour pans.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients. Add the bananas, oil, pineapple, eggs, vanilla, and pecans and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pans.
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Bake in preheated oven for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto wire rack and cool completely about 1 hour.
Make the Frosting:
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In a medium mixing bowl, using an electric mixer beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating on low speed, until combined. Add vanilla and stir to combine.
Assembly:
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Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate. Evenly spread one-fourth of the frosting over top. Repeat with remaining layers. Spread the remaining frosting over the sides of the cake.
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Press 2 cups chopped Pecans onto the sides of the cake. Refrigerate overnight.
Hummingbird Cake Recipe + Ingredient Notes
If you’ve ever baked fruit cakes before, all of these ingredients should be familiar! We all know how moist and flavorful mashed bananas make cakes and muffins, and the pineapple adds additional moisture along with that slightly acidic quality that makes it such a unique flavor.
Toasted pecans, warm cinnamon, and vanilla round out the flavors in a pretty standard cake batter leavened with just a touch of baking soda. Here’s some more info!
- No Layers: I know we don’t always have the time or patience to deal with frosting a layered cake. You can easily turn this into a hummingbird sheet cake by baking it in a 9”x13” dish (lightly greased or lined with parchment paper) at 350 degrees for 50 – 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Toasty: You will always benefit from toasting pecans before using them! I prefer to do them in a skillet on the stove over low to medium-low heat, tossing them around until fragrant. I’ve been known to forget about them once or twice when trying the oven method.
- Be sure to toast them whole, then chop them afterward, to prevent burning.
- Pineapple Flowers: One of my favorite garnishes for this cake is dried pineapple flowers! Heat your oven to 225 degrees. Take a fresh pineapple, chop off the top and bottom, then peel, cleaning the edges until none of the little brown bits are left. Cut thin slices and place them in a single layer on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the tops look dry, then flip and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes until they are thoroughly dried. Watch them carefully so they don’t burn! As soon as they come out of the oven, I drape them over the back side of a muffin tin so they make a perfect cupped flower shape.
- You can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days if needed.
- Frosting: You wouldn’t think of frosting this cake with anything but a cream cheese frosting, right? The touch of tang in the cream cheese balances the whole cake. But you’ll want to make sure your cream cheese and butter are both at room temp.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?Yes! Even once assembled with frosting, your hummingbird cake will last up to a week in the fridge. The frosting may start to separate after a few days, but the excess moisture will soak into the cake and make it super sugary yummy. I love it!
- Can You Freeze This?Yes! I always approach my this cake as I would a sponge cake — it doesn’t have quite the same preservation ingredients like dried fruit in fruit cake, so it works best to lean towards the sponge side of things. Once assembled, you can store the result of your cake in the freezer for up to six months.
- Or you can store the cake and frosting separately. The cake will give you six months of life while the frosting will last three months.
- Make-Ahead Tips: The best way to speed along this hummingbird cake recipe is to make the cake part ahead of time and let it cool in the fridge until you need it. The cake will last up to a full week in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble and serve!
More Fruity Cakes!
- Berry Chantilly Cake
- Peach pound cake
- Pig Pickin Cake
- Pineapple Sheet Cake
- Pineapple Sunshine Cake
- Strawberry Pound Cake
- Blueberry Pound Cake
Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon dried ground nutmeg
- 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (8-Ounce) can crushed pineapple undrained
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup pecans chopped
Frosting:
- 2 (8-ounce) boxes cream cheese softened
- 1 cup butter softened
- 4 cups (32-ounces) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Garnish:
- 2 Cups Pecans chopped
Instructions
Make the Cakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of 3-9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Grease and flour pans.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients. Add the bananas, oil, pineapple, eggs, vanilla, and pecans and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake in preheated oven for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto wire rack and cool completely about 1 hour.
Make the Frosting:
- In a medium mixing bowl, using an electric mixer beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating on low speed, until combined. Add vanilla and stir to combine.
Assembly:
- Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate. Evenly spread one-fourth of the frosting over top. Repeat with remaining layers. Spread the remaining frosting over the sides of the cake.
- Press 2 cups chopped Pecans onto the sides of the cake. Refrigerate overnight.
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I am going to make this cake! Is the pineapple sweetened or non?
Hi Kathy. I use unsweetened. 🙂
Can this cake be done in a bundt pan?
Hi Arlene! Yes, you can make it in a bundt pan but I haven’t done it myself yet. If you give this a try, please let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!
Can I make this cake without the bananas?
Hi Suzanne. No, not really. Bananas are an integral ingredient in this recipe <3