BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (2024)

Posted by Ruth Soukup | Dessert Recipes, Our Most Popular Recipes | 36

BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (1)

Looking for a delicious Southern cake recipe? This Hummingbird Cake recipe is moist and sweet, making it the perfect quick cake to celebrate any occasion!

I have a confession. I’m not really a cake person, at least not usually. I much prefer brownies. Or fresh blueberry pie. Mmmmmmm…pie…

The problem I have with most cakes is that they are either too dry or the frosting is too sweet (or both).

That was, of course, until I discovered thisparticular cake, which is apparently a Southern institution, right along with sweet tea and pimiento cheese. It is a little like banana bread with frosting, but even better. The original recipe comes from a 1978 issue of Southern Living Magazine but cuts back a little on the oil and nuts and adds a little coconut as well. You could just as easily skip both the nuts and the coconut if those aren’t your thing. Also, it is a great way to use up those overripe bananas!

And the frosting. Oh, the frosting. I use my Browned Butter Cream Cheese Icing because, well, it is pretty much the yummiest thing on the planet, and the slightly caramelized flavor of the brown butter is the perfect complement to the richness of the cake. Don’t skimp on the frosting or flake out and buy the store-bought stuff. It’s not that hard, and it is totally worth the effort!

Easy Hummingbird Cake

BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (2)

Here is what you need:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups very ripe chopped bananas
8 oz. crushed pineapple (undrained)
½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
½ cup coconut
Browned Butter Cream Cheese Icing
¾ cup coconut for top (optional)
½ cup pecans for top (optional)
softened butter & flour for greasing pan

BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (3)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease & flour 2 9″ round baking pans.

BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (4)

Step 2: Beat eggs in small bowl. In a separate larger bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.

BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (5)

Step 3: Add eggs and oil to flour mixture; stir with spatula just until moistened.

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Step 4: Stir in bananas, pineapple, pecans, vanilla and coconut. Mix at medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute.

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Step 5: Pour batter into baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until knife inserted into middle of cake comes out clean.

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Step 6: Cool in pan on wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then invert cakes onto wire rack and cool completely.

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Step 7: Spread coconut and/or pecans on baking sheet; bake at 350ºF for 5-8 minutes until toasted.

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Step 8: Spread Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle top with pecans and/or coconut if desired.

BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (11)

3.5 from 2 votes

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Hummingbird Cake

This truly Southern cake is simply to die for!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Hummingbird Cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups sugar
  • teaspoons vanilla extract
  • teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups very ripe chopped bananas
  • 8 oz. crushed pineapple un-drained
  • ½ cup chopped pecans optional
  • ½ cup coconut
  • Browned Buttter Cream Cheese Frosting
  • ¾ cup coconut
  • softened butter & flour for greasing pan

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease & flour 2 9" round baking pans.

  2. Beat eggs in small bowl. In a separate larger bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.

  3. Add eggs and oil to flour mixture; stir with spatula just until moistened.

  4. Stir in bananas, pineapple, pecans, vanilla and coconut. Mix at medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute.

  5. Pour batter into baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until knife inserted into middle of cake comes out clean.

  6. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then invert cakes onto wire rack and cool completely.

  7. Spread coconut and pecans on baking sheet; bake at 350ºF for 5-8 minutes until toasted.

  8. Spread Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle top with pecans and/or coconut if desired.

Other Dessert Recipes You’ll Love:

  • Caramelized Pear Upside-Down Cake
  • Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie
  • One Bowl Brownies

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Ruth Soukup

Founder at Living Well Spending Less

Ruth Soukup is dedicated to helping people everywhere create a life they love by follwing their dreams and achieving their biggest goals. She is the host of the wildly popular Do It Scared podcast, as well as the founder of Living Well Spending Less® and Elite Blog Academy®. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including Do It Scared®: Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Obstacles, and Create a Life You Love, which was the inspiration for this book. She lives in Florida with her husband Chuck, and 2 daughters Maggie & Annie.

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BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe | Easy Southern Classic Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my hummingbird cake dry? ›

Your hummingbird cake can be dry due to common mistakes, such as draining your crushed pineapples. Don't drain your crushed pineapple before adding it to the recipe; make sure you're using it along with its juice, which imparts not only tons of flavor, but exquisite moistness, too.

Why is my hummingbird cake crumbly? ›

Using too much flour is a surefire way to end up with dry, crumbly hummingbird cake. The best and most accurate way to measure flour is to weigh it with a kitchen scale. If you don't have one, fluff up the flour in its container and spoon it into your measuring cup, using a knife to level off the top.

What's the difference between carrot cake and hummingbird cake? ›

What Is The Difference Between Carrot Cake And Hummingbird Cake? Hummingbird Cake is lighter than carrot cake, almost crumbly but still moist and with the flavor of banana. It has a cream cheese frosting then topped with pecans which is the perfect complement to the banana and pineapple flavors in the cake.

What is a hummingbird cake made of? ›

What Is Hummingbird Cake? If you're not familiar, hummingbird cake is a spiced pineapple-banana cake topped with cream cheese frosting and pecans. Maybe it's the pecans that lure me in, or the way the taste fools me into thinking I might just be eating a fancy piece of banana bread with a little cream cheese.

Why is my cake not moist enough? ›

A dry cake is usually the result of one of the following pitfalls: using the wrong ingredients, making mistakes while measuring or mixing the batter, or baking the cake too long or at too high a temperature. Once you understand which common cake-baking blunders to avoid, you'll know how to bake a moist cake every time.

What makes a cake light and fluffy? ›

You need to incorporate as much air into the eggs as possible, as this is what levels the cake and will give you a light and fluffy sponge. Set a timer for 7 minutes and allow the electric mixer to do the work before adding any sugar. The eggs should triple in volume and look pale, thick and shiny.

Should I refrigerate cake layers before frosting? ›

"Prepare, bake, and cool the cake completely. Then, wrap each cake layer in cling film, nice and tight, and place in the fridge for at least two hours," he says. That's right, you won't be frosting your cake at room temperature; a chilled cake is essential before applying any frosting. "This step is the most important.

Why do they call it hummingbird cake? ›

Created in Jamaica where the dessert is called the doctor bird cake (or Dr. Bird cake), it is named after the island's national bird, the scissors-tail hummingbird (locally known as the doctor bird).

What happens if you overmix cake batter? ›

Overmixing is exactly what it sounds like: the process by which a dough or batter gets mixed too much, typically yielding dense, tough, or deflated baked goods. Overmixed doughs and batters may have an unappealing look or feel, which remain just as unappealing when they're baked.

Why is it called Princess Cake? ›

It was created by Jenny Åkerström, who was a teacher for the three Swedish princesses at the time. The original name for the cake was “gröntårta,” or green cake, after the distinctive marzipan topping. It was later renamed Prinsesstårta, or Princess cake, as it became a favorite of the three princesses.

What is a Queen Emma cake? ›

The Queen's Cake, our modern take on the Queen Emma Cake features seven luscious layers: guava cake, guava curd, lilikoi cake, lilikoi curd, coconut cake, coconut haupia, and more coconut cake, all enveloped in our signature vanilla Italian meringue buttercream.

How long does a hummingbird cake last? ›

Hummingbird cake is best stored in the refrigerator and will keep for up to 5 days there, just make sure to keep it tightly covered in an airtight container. It's such a moist cake the cool refrigerator doesn't do much damage to its tender crumb.

What is Elvis Presley cake? ›

An Elvis Presley cake is a single-layer classic yellow cake that's topped with a pineapple glaze. Much like a poke cake, the syrup and juices of the pineapple will seep into the cake through fork holes, resulting in a decadent, ultra-moist cake.

What is a carnival cake? ›

The Dutch Carnival Cake, also known as Carnival Cake (Dutch: Kermiskoek), is traditionally a Dutch delicacy that is similar to gingerbread cake.

How do I stop my cake from being dry? ›

Using an air-tight container is the best and easiest way to keep your cake from getting exposed to air. However, if you don't have one of those, you can wrap your cake in cling film, or if it's iced, place a large inverted bowl over it to trap the air.

How do you fix a cake that is too dry? ›

The 4 Best Ways to Fix a Dry Cake
  1. Brush the cake with a simple syrup glaze.
  2. Soak your cake in milk or cream.
  3. Add frosting.
  4. Fill your cake with mousse or jam.
May 14, 2023

What is the cause of cake being dry? ›

5 Reasons Your Cakes Are Dry
  • 1 – Using a different sized cake pan. ...
  • 2 – Using a pan that is a different material or colour to the one used in the original recipe. ...
  • 3 – Incorrect measurements were used. ...
  • 4 – Oven temperature is too high. ...
  • 5 – Inappropriate substitutions or reductions were made.
Jan 31, 2024

How do you rehydrate dry cake? ›

But there's no need to panic - there's an easy way to fix a dry cake. Simply soak your cake in milk for 30 minutes to an hour. The milk will help to rehydrate the cake, making it moist and delicious. Just be sure to brush off any excess milk before serving.

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