The first time I experienced hummingbird cake was at the extremely popular Hominy Grill in Charleston, South Carolina and I instantly fell in love. This hummingbird cake recipe is the exact same one that made me fall in love with this classic Southern dessert in the first place! When I saw that Hominy Grill had a small paperbook cookbook available with some of their most popular recipes, I immediately grabbed one so I can remake this cake and their shrimp & grits (the best I have ever had) at home. You can think of hummingbird cake as a cousin to carrot cake, spice cake, or even banana bread. All of them have a warm, sweet crumb. In this case, the hummingbird cake layers are extra moist and sweet thanks to the addition of crushed pineapple and mashed banana. It’s a fluffy and moist cake that also has a crunchy texture throughout from the chopped pecans. The cream cheese frosting is rich and creamy, and it helps cut through the sweetness of the cake with its tanginess, which compliments the nutty flavors as well. Hummingbird cake actually originated in Jamaica, not the Carolinas, but quickly became popular and an iconic dessert of the South once it was introduced there. For more delicious Southern cake recipes, check out my Best Homemade Red Velvet Cake, Southern Caramel Cake, Kentucky Butter Cake, and Coca Cola Cake!
Why We Love This Recipe
Decorate this cake with nuts, edible flowers, or even sprinkles to suit your occasion! This delicious cake is a great way to use up overripe bananas. It’s a forgiving cake recipe, even if you happen to overbake slightly, that is super easy to follow but looks so impressive!
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Flour – All-purpose flour works best for this cake. Granulated sugar – Use white granulated sugar to sweeten this dessert. Baking soda – The rising agent we’ll use here to give a nice, fluffy cake crumb. Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon will bring a warm flavor. Salt – An important element in any dessert to enhance all the flavors of this cake. Overripe bananas – You’ll need about 3-4 ripe bananas. They can be spotted and brown, but not too black. They’ll mainly add sweetness and moisture to the cake. Pecans – Chopped pecans are dotted throughout the cake and also used as decoration on the top. Pineapple – You’ll need a can of crushed pineapple, or make your own using fresh chunks of pineapple that you run through a food processor (affiliate link). Don’t forget to include the juices if you do this. Vanilla – Vanilla extract adds a warm sweetness and complexity that blends well with the spiced flavor of this cake. Eggs – To bind ingredients and help it to rise. Oil – I’ve used canola oil here but you can use vegetable oil or even olive oil if that’s all you have on hand. Butter – Use salted butter to enhance the flavors in the frosting. Cream Cheese – Plain, full-fat cream cheese from a brick, not a tub, works best to give the frosting a creamy flavor and texture. You can use lower-fat neufchatel if you prefer. Powdered Sugar – For sweetening the frosting and adding substance to it.
How to Make Hummingbird Cake
Tips for Success
Use ripe bananas that are full of brown or black spots on the outside skin. The more ripe your bananas are, the sweeter they will be, and the more banana flavor you will get. You can even use completely brown bananas that have gone squishy and soft. Line the bottom of your cake pans with parchment paper. It will help a lot with taking the layers out. For perfectly even cake layers, you can use a kitchen scale to divide the batter between the three pans. I tend to just eyeball it because I don’t care enough about perfection! Every oven works differently, so I’d recommend checking on your cake layers during the last 10 minutes of baking to avoid overbaking them. You can decorate the cake with extra crushed pecans or even edible flowers for a really fancy dessert!
Substitutions and Variations
Hummingbird Cupcakes. Have you ever heard of something as cute as hummingbird cupcakes?! Simply make the cake batter, divide it evenly into a cupcake tray lined with paper cases, and bake for about 16-18 minutes. Check out my Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting for more spiced cupcake ideas! Coconut. Add some shredded coconut to the mix for more of a tropical flavor, or use it in place of the chopped pecans. Nuts. Use walnuts, almonds, or even peanuts instead of pecans for a different flavor.
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love
Best Homemade Strawberry Cake Luscious Lemon Layer Cake Vintage Cherry Cake Tropical Pineapple Sponge Cake Burnt Almond Cake
When it comes to frosting a cake, though, there are a few tricks you can use to help you get that perfect look.
Don’t overbeat the frosting, and make sure it’s the right consistency before you start. Cream cheese frosting actually gets runnier the more you beat it! Try spreading a thin coating of frosting around the outside of the cake, and then put the whole thing in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will help “set” the crumbs, meaning they won’t crumble off into the outside frosting. Then frost it with the remaining frosting and decorate as normal! Use a turntable if you have one, or even a cake stand, to give you a bit of elevation for adding the frosting. It will allow you to turn it more easily too.
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