Hummingbird Cake
A soft, moist hummingbird cake made with bananas, pineapple, and toasted pecans, layered with cream cheese frosting.
Servings: 14 servings
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 1 ¾ cups bananas mashed (about 4 bananas), 390 grams
- 2 cups granulated sugar 400 grams
- 1 ⅓ cups vegetable oil 266 grams
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 360 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple do not drain, 227 grams or 1 cup
- 1 cup chopped pecans toasted, 120 grams
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup butter softened, 227 grams
- 5 cups powdered sugar 600 grams
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened, 454 grams
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease three 9-inch or 8-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl mash the bananas until mostly smooth (you should have 1 ¾ cups of mashed banana). Whisk in the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until combined.
- Place a sifter or fine-mesh strainer over the bowl and add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Sift into the wet ingredients. Stir until the batter is combined and no dry streaks remain.
- Stir in the crushed pineapple with its juice and toasted pecans.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
- Bake 9-inch cakes for 25 to 30 minutes or 8-inch cakes for 32 to 36 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto wire racks and cool completely.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
- Add the powdered sugar gradually, starting on low speed and increasing to medium-high. Beat until smooth and well combined. (Beating the butter with the sugar first coats the sugar in fat, so it doesn’t pull as much moisture from the cream cheese later).
- Add the cream cheese and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and combined. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Mix until fully incorporated.
- Spread the frosting between the cake layers, then over the top and sides of the cake. If desired, garnish with additional toasted pecans.
Notes
Use very ripe bananas. The darker the peel, the better. If they’re still yellow, your cake won’t have the same depth of flavor.
Measure the mashed banana. “About 4 bananas” can vary a lot. Measure out 1¾ cups so the texture stays consistent.
Don’t drain the pineapple. The juice is part of the batter. However, if you want to add an extra 8 ounce can of pineapple, drain the additional amount so the batter doesn’t get too wet.
Toast the pecans. It takes a few extra minutes, but it makes a noticeable difference.
Pan Sizes. This recipe works in three 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans. The 8-inch pans will give you thicker layers and a slightly taller cake, while 9-inch pans make slightly thinner layers.
Storage. The cake layers can be made a day in advance. Wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature or refrigerate. The frosted cake should be refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 875kcal | Carbohydrates: 99g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 564mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 75g | Vitamin A: 908IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 2mg
