This classic scratch Hummingbird Cake recipe has it all- banana, crushed pineapple, pecans, and a hint of cinnamon for a dessert that is sure to earn a place in your file of favorite recipes.
I LOVE cake recipes that incorporate fruit for an added boost of flavor, texture, and moistness.
Oh, and of course, every good Hummingbird Cake should be dressed in the most delicious Cream Cheese Frosting! You can find the Cream Cheese Frosting used in this recipe here: Cream Cheese Frosting- Pipeable Recipe.
We find this Cream Cheese Frosting to be every bit as delicious as our other popular Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting, but it holds up to piping even better, and we love the creamier consistency.
This has been our go-to Hummingbird Cake recipe for years, and it is based on a Hummingbird Cake recipe that first appeared in the Southern Living Magazine in the 70’s.
There are many, many similar recipes for this southern favorite floating around but they all share the same wonderful flavors of banana, pineapple, and cinnamon.
Hummingbird Cakes are thought to have first emerged in Jamaica in the ’60s, (note the pineapple & banana in the recipe)! Although unconfirmed, a popular theory for how this delicious cake got it’s unusual name is that it’s sweetness attracts the hummingbirds! Sounds like a pretty good explanation to me! I say that we go with it.
Unlike most of our cake recipes, there’s no need to drag out the cake mixer for this one! You’ll be doing a little stirring for a change.
I think that stirring a hefty bowl of cake batter counts as a mini-workout, don’t you? Reward yourself with a big ol’ slice of this deliciousness.
We hope that you love this Hummingbird cake recipe as much as we do! It has become a trusted southern classic, right up there with Italian Cream Cake and homemade Red Velvet Cake!
Enjoy!
Hummingbird Cake Recipe from Scratch
Ingredients
- 3 cups (363g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (3g) ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup (215g) vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (6g) vanilla extract
- 1 can (8 ounce) (227g) crushed pineapple, undrained
- 1 cup (100g) chopped pecans
- 1 3/4 cup (392g) mashed ripe bananas (4 large)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, Grease and flour three 8 inch pans.
- Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to blend. Add eggs and oil, stirring with a spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat the mixture. Add the vanilla, pineapple, pecans, bananas and stir until combined.
- Spoon batter into three 8 inch greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Cool in pans 10 minutes and remove from pans.
- Makes 6 cups of batter.
Looks and sounds delicious! :) I love Hummingbird cake.
Thank you MsGF! xoxo It’s a good one, you should try it! (after working your gluten-free magic) ;0)
how did you pipe the side of this one
Hi Michaela, this piping is a great quick option that I often do–I demonstrate something very similar around the sides in this wedding dress cake video (only instead of a small star tip, I used a star tip 21 for my hummingbird cake.) :
link to mycakeschool.com
Can I do cupcakes with this? Im worried they will not be as moist?
Looks delish!!!can I use this recipe in cup cakes?
Thank you
Hi Jamie and Sheryl, I have not made cupcakes with the recipe but I think it would be fine to do so.
Can you leave out the banana? I really want to make this cake but don’t like Banana’s Thanks
Hi Marilyn- Since the recipe calls for such a large amount of bananas, I think it would be difficult to substitute with something else. That aside, hummingbird cake is known for having a very prominent banana flavor. I would go with another recipe in our Recipes section–we have several with fruit or spices, including caramel apple, maple, carrot, and pumpkin which would all be great for fall. Good luck!
Hi Melissa, I made this recipe this past weekend and followed the directions to a tee. I baked at 350 for 25 minutes. For some reason the cake turned out really dry. Any ideas about what went wrong?? Love the frosting recipe !!!
Hi Carol, I am sorry your cake was dry. Did you use the gram weight of flour? If not, the flour should have been lightly spooned into the measuring cup and then leveled off. If the measuring cup is dipped into the flour and then leveled off, the flour will be somewhat packed into the cup giving more flour than the recipe calls for. With the oil, pineapple and 4 bananas in the recipe it should not be dry. I’m hoping the flour is the answer to help you. What do your think?
Your recipe call for 1 can of crushed pineapple un-drained. and most of the other recipes I’ve read call for drained. Please clarify. Thanks
Hi Paty- That is correct, we do not drain the crushed pineapple. I hope that you enjoy the recipe!
Just made the cake for a church event tomorrow. Can’t wait to try it!
Wonderful, so happy you made the recipe!!
Hi, do you think this cake would withstand being covered with fondant after being covered with white chocolate ganache? Thanks!
Hi Eleonora, I have not covered this cake in fondant, but I know it is fairly dense even with the pineapple and bananas. So, since you are covering with white chocolate ganache, I think you will be fine using fondant to cover the cake.
Thanks so much for your reply Bebe! I have tried a couple of your recipes and they are fantastic…looking forward to making this one. Big hello from Australia!
My scratch cakes always come out wrong but I made this one yesterday and it was perfect!!!! Thank you My Cake School! I will be Joining on payday!!
I’m so happy to hear it, Paige! xo
hello, pls can I leave pecan out of this recipe or what can I use as substitute. love ur recipes….
Hi Esther, yes, you can leave out the pecans. You could substitute chopped walnuts if you like but if you need it to be nut free just leave them out.
OMG – This is a MONSTER cake. The cake was too HUGE using 3 x 8″ pans. It had stability issues and I had to try and stabilize it with skewers thru the top – which didn’t really work – and not attractive. Part of that is because the Cream Cheese icing recipe (double recipe really – from your site) called for so much icing. It bulged and slid everywhere: a visual disaster. The taste is great – but a 2 layer cake or a 3 layer x 10+” cake would be better. The recipe is just too much batter for the recommended pans. I should have known better when I took them out of the oven.
I am not a novice at this. I am a Culinary school grad and have been cooking/baking for 40 years. *Next time I am just cutting the recipe in half and making a normal size 2 layer cake.
I made cupcakes using this recipe last night. It worked beautifully. I used your pipable cream cheese recipe as you suggested. I did fluff it up a bit by mixing on high. It was delicate and soft and created a wonderful balance to the heavier cupcakes. I got rave reviews from the event I made these for. I could have made them look nicer but I was in a huge hurry and was even holding each cupcake over the AC vent to cool it down to frost. Ha ha ha! I got 29 cupcakes out of this recipe and had about a cup and a half of frosting to spare.
Hi Terry, I don’t know what made your cake layers so large.
Hi Kathy, Your cupcakes look divine! Thanks so much for your review of the recipe andI’m happy everyone liked your cupcakes!!
I usually measure my dry ingredients and as I add them I put thru a sifter. Is this something i can do here?
Hi Teresa, You could do that but with most of our recipes I suggest measuring out the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, whisk at least 30 seconds to distribute the baking powder/baking soda throughout. I did not have that instruction on this recipe, but I just added it. Here is a link on the subject of whisking vs sifting. You might find it interesting.
link to thecakeblog.com
So….I made this cake for my bday and it was gonne in 20 minutes, and there were only 8 of us! This cake is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Paired with the cream cheese filling…..beyond awesome! It’s rich and flavorful and moist! Most requested cake in my household. Thank you for sgaring!
Hi Nina! I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks so much for your feedback! xoxo
I made this cake yesterday and it is by far the best cake I have ever made. I love carrot cake and spice cake. This hummingbird cake was better than both of those times a hundred. Very moist and such an abundance of flavor.
That’s music to our ears, so happy that you enjoyed it Amy! Thanks for your feedback! xo
This cake is phenomenal. It is so good and moist that I am making a 2nd one within a week. My husband allowed the kids to get a slice, then he immediately took the cake tray into the bedroom and hid it. Kudos!
Thanks so much for your feedback! Haha, love that your husband loved it so much that he hid it away ;0) Now you have me craving hummingbird cake! xo