Homemade Hummingbird Cake Recipe
Published May 26, 2023. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This classic three-layer Hummingbird cake recipe is loaded with homemade cream cheese buttercream, bananas, and pecans for the ultimate dessert. It’s easy to make and perfect for family and friends.
My family has a serious sweet tooth and is obsessed with dessert, especially cake. It is the single most coveted meal of the day. If your family is like ours and is always looking to make new treats, then definitely try my amazing Pound Cake or Chocolate Cheese Cake.
Hummingbird Cake
If you’ve never heard of a hummingbird cake, it’s essentially a carrot cake but swaps out the carrots for mashed bananas. It has an incredibly light flavor and is commonly served with homemade cream cheese buttercream. Hummingbird is classically served as a single or double-layer cake with the frosting in between and on top of the cake. However, I like big cakes, so it’s three layers for me.
The cake was supposedly created by a young woman from North Carolina who submitted it to Southern Living Magazine in the late 1970s. It’s said to be the most popular recipe in the magazine still to this day. The dispute is that the cake was created in Jamaica and was initially known as the doctor bird, which is another name for the hummingbird in Jamaica and its national bird.
Ingredients
- Flour – I used all-purpose flour for this hummingbird cake.
- Cornstarch – This is used to help make the flour fluffier to emulate cake flour.
- Leavening Agents – I used baking soda and baking powder to help leaven the cakes.
- Sugar – A combination of light brown and granulated sugar makes this cake incredibly moist and gives a darker, richer color.
- Oil – Any neutral-flavored oil will work. For the record, I used vegetable oil.
- Salt – I almost exclusively use coarse sea salt in all my cooking and baking.
- Spices – A little bit of ground cinnamon and nutmeg really help intensify the flavors in the hummingbird cake,
- Eggs – Large eggs that are chilled or at room temperature will work.
- Oil – Any neutral flavored oil, such as vegetable oil, will work.
- Bananas – It’s important to use ripe bananas. The peelings should have some brown on them. In addition, it is completely ok if there are some dark spots on the banana itself after it is peeled.
- Nuts – Pecans are more classic to use. However, walnuts can also be used.
- Pineapple – Use crushed pineapple in pineapple juice, not syrup.
- Frosting – Cream cheese buttercream is the traditional frosting for a hummingbird cake.
How to Make a Hummingbird Cake from Scratch
Roughly chop the pecans into smaller ¼” x ¼” pieces using a chef’s knife or by pulsing in a food processor.
Transfer the nuts and evenly spread them out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for on the middle rack in the oven for 5 minutes. Set aside.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Mix with a whisk until combined. Set it aside.
Add the peeled ripe bananas to a separate large bowl and mash them thoroughly with a fork until it is smooth and soupy. It’s ok if there are a few chunks in there.
Next, add the eggs to the bananas and whisk until it is completely combined.
Now, add in the vanilla, oil, and crushed pineapple, and whisk until it is combined and emulsified.
Transfer the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and add 1 ¾ cups of the toasted pecans. Mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
Evenly distribute the batter between 3 9” cake pans that have been buttered and have parchment paper round in them. Bake the cake at 350° for 30 to 32 minutes or until just firm in the center and browned.
Cool the cakes on a rack completely until they’ve reached room temperature. This can take up to 2 hours.
With about 20 minutes or so left in the cooling process, make the Cream Cheese Frosting. Briefly set it aside.
Remove the cakes from the pans and slice off a thin layer of the top of each cake to flatten it out.
Ice the cake in layers until it is completely coated.
Garnish the cake with the remaining ¼ cup of chopped toasted pecans
Slice and serve.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this cake up to 1 day ahead of time.
How to Store: Cover and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. Place it in the refrigerator and cover it for up to 5 days. You can freeze this covered for up to 3 months and thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before serving.
How to Serve: Pull the hummingbird cake out of the refrigerator and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature before serving.
Chef Notes + Tips
- If you have cake flour on hand, replace the all-purpose flour and cornstarch in this recipe with 3 ¼ cups of cake flour.
- Although it’s traditional to use pineapple, you can forgo it if you do not like it in the cake.
- Feel free to decorate the cake in whichever fashion best suits you.
- I like to use parchment paper rounds on the bottom of the prepared cake pans to help easily remove the cake. It also helps to aid in keeping the carrot cake moist.
- Try adding a ¼ teaspoon of ground all-spice to the cake mix.
- You can easily turn this into a two-layer cake using 2/3 of each ingredient. If it does not convert perfectly, round up.
- You can keep the nuts larger in size if you’d like.
- Baking the nuts will intensify their flavor, making them more delicious.
More Cake Recipes
Video
Homemade Hummingbird Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Pecans
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 brown sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 3 cups mashed bananas, about 6 bananas
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups neutral flavored oil
- 8 ounce can crushed pineapple
- cream cheese frosting recipe x 2
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Roughly chop the pecans into smaller ¼” x ¼” pieces using a chef's knife or by pulsing in a food processor.
- Transfer the nuts and evenly spread them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for on the middle rack in the oven for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, brown sugar, and cornstarch. Mix with a whisk until combined. Set it aside.
- In a separate large bowl, add the peeled ripe bananas and mash them thoroughly with a fork until it is smooth and soupy. It’s ok if there are a few chunks in there.
- Next, add the eggs to the bananas and whisk until it is thoroughly combined.
- Now, add the vanilla, crushed pineapple, and oil and whisk until combined and emulsified.
- Transfer the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and add in 1 ¾ cups of the toasted pecans. Mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Evenly distribute the batter between 3 9” cake pans that have been buttered or sprayed with non-stick spray and have a parchment paper round in the bottom. Bake the cake at 350° on the middle rack in the oven for 30 to 32 minutes or until just firm in the center and browned.
- Cool the cakes on a rack completely until they’ve reached room temperature. This can take up to 2 hours.
- With about 20 minutes or so left in the cooling process, make the Cream Cheese Frosting. Briefly set it aside.
- Remove the cakes from the pans and slice off a thin layer of the top of each cake to flatten it out.
- Ice the cake in layers until it is completely coated.
- Garnish the cake with the remaining ¼ cup of chopped toasted pecans.
- Slice and serve.
Hello Chef Billy from Canada, this cake sounds amazing. Wondering if flaked coconut can be added and regarding the bananas (have some in the freezer can I use these up)
And instead of cake pans – will be baking this recipe in my large muffin tins and icing them with a cream cheese icing.. and I do love your videos..
A Canadian Fan
Germaine
Hi, could you tell me the cook time, if this was a sheet cake?
Hi Chef 😁 I made the Hummingbird cake the other day for my hubbies birthday (and we LOVED it! but now I’m expecting children (along with other family members) for coffee this Sunday and I wanted to make it as muffins. Could you advice me on baking time for regular sized muffins? All the best from your biggest fan in Iceland 🥰
Im not 100% sure without testing it.
I haven’t made this yet, but I can tell from the recipe that it will be absolutely delicious!
I am going to make this in a 13″X 9″ pan. How long should I bake it for?
Thanks
Made this and fell in love with this cake and this recipe. I shared a piece with my neighbor and she also loved it. I’d never had Hummingbird cake before but she has and said it was the best she’s tasted. However be careful what you share. She is having a gathering for her Mother who past away and has asked me to make cupcakes from this recipe . . 60!!! Fortunately that should only be 2 recipes if I’ve read the conversion correctly. Wish me luck and thank you Billy. Love your recipes and videos.
so good!!
Literally my favorite of all time cake recipe. Even over a chocolate cake. My husband loves this cake as well. He gives it 5 ***** too.
Thank you Chef!
appreciate you trying it
I am typically not much of a baker but I thought I could make this cake. Well I did and it is so dang good!! Love it. So tasty and so moist!!!
I have to say the third layer and the chopped nuts on top and on the sides … looked like a pro did it!!
Thanks Chef!!!
my pleasure!
Can zucchini be substituted for bananas and pineapple.
Have never tried it, so I’m not sure.
Made this for my sons 31st birthday…resounding success! Thanks for the inspiration Billy!
of course!
I made this cake for my husbands 75th birthday,it was a hit. Followed directions exactly and it was delicious!!
thanks for giving it a shot!!
This is my all time favorite cake, although my recipe is slightly different. It was the last cake I made for my mother before her death. She loved it.
Real good cake! I used shredded coconut to decorate, yummy!
Nice!
This one is a keeper. I made this cake for my book club gang and I barely had a piece left to bring home to my husband. So good!! Read the Chef notes before making your cake; they make a difference. I think I used a lot of icing but had some left over; but I’d rather have leftover than not enough!!
so good!!
I made this cake for work Instead of a three layer cake I made singles layers and frosted each layer with the frosting that goes with this recipe. I used the crushed pineapple. I made it exactly as the recipe states. Everyone loved the cake and wanted the recipe so I’m printing it and passing it along!
fantastic
It took me a while to decide to make this cake. I thought it was too complicated. But the steps are easy. My family was so impressed and I was so proud of myself. Billy, you are awesome.
Amazing!!
Absolutely delicious!
so good!!
Made the Hummingbird Cake this weekend and it was delicious! Big hit with the family.
Thank you for this recipe and your easy to follow instructions.
thanks for giving it a shot!!
Hey Chef Billy,
Happy Memorial Day Weekend, I hope you have plans to relax, eat good and spend time with your Family. I’m going to do just that myself. I love this Cake, and I have made it many times I like the way you use the cornstarch in your recipe because I do too. I even use it in a boxed cake mix. What a great and very delicious cake this is.
I hadn’t thought about it but I think I will make one. I’m going to be making a Peach Cobbler for sure, but we can use a cake to I think. Have a very nice weekend Chef, and be safe. God Bless you and see you soon….
Going to try this cake , looks great
Glad for the metric measurements 🇨🇦
It’s so delicious! We tried this as we had never had hummingbird cake before and our daughters name means hummingbird so we decided to make this for her bday. I’ve heard of pineapple added to it but didn’t know how it would taste… Also most icing on these recipes call for cream cheese and I’m not a fan- so this buttercream was delicious!
Could I make these into muffins? If so how long to cook do you recommend?
I think you could.
Where is the pineapple? And I’ve heard, too, that hummingbird cake originated in Jamaica.
I HATE pineapple in cake, so it was a personal choice. I’ve heard that as well about Jamaica. I think that’s in the post.
I need pineapple in this cake. How much and drained it undrained. Don t want to ruin this beautiful humming bird cake. Thank you.. please reply. Rhonda
I would probably just put 1 can drained of chopped pineapple. Have to be careful though since it may add more liquid to the mixture and you may need a bit extra flour.
I will definitely try Chef Billy’s for when I don’t have pineapple on hand. 🙂 I die for hummingbird cake. I fell in love with it after I had it at Chef Art Smith’s restaurant, Blue Door, in Chicago. He uses both banana and pineapple and it’s really good.
Beautiful cake! Do you possibly have an uncle who can cook and needs a wife? Lol
hah too funny! No unfortunately, no uncles who cook.