This easy single layer hummingbird cake is super soft, moist, and pairs perfectly with coffee. It’s slightly spiced and flavored with banana and pineapple, and frosted with classic cream cheese frosting to complete its deliciousness. If you like banana or carrot cakes, you’ll fall in love with this one. It’s so moist, it will melt in your mouth!
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In this post…
Main Equipment Used
Cake pan: I prefer to use my 9-inch round cake pan or 9-inch springform pan as well. For alternate pan sizes, see the FAQs below or go to my cake pan conversion article.
Mixer: I prefer to use a handheld mixer or stand mixer when making most cakes.
You can! The result will be better, yielding a very tender, soft crumb, but it will take slightly longer to make.
One-Layer Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda and salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- Canola oil (or vegetable, safflower)
- Crushed pineapple
- Half of the pineapple juice from the can (drain half of the juice from the can pineapple and add the rest to the cake batter)
- Pure vanilla extract
- Ripe bananas
- Toasted pecans, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl sift together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix eggs and sugar until combined, then add the oil, pineapple and juice, vanilla extract, and bananas ingredients. Add flour mixture to the dry mixture and mix on low just until combined. Stir in pecans.
- Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. If cake is browning too much while baking, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
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Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- Cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- Unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- Powdered sugar, sifted
- Pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add sugar in 2 additions, beating well after each addition until smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat for about another 2 minutes on high speed until completely smooth.
Pro tip: If the frosting is too runny, add more sugar as necessary until you reach the desired consistency. You can add a pinch of salt or lemon juice to cut the sweetness if you like.
Garnish: Spread frosting over the top (and sides if you want) of the cake, and sprinkle with chopped pecans for garnish, if you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can leave out the pecans if you want without replacing with anything or you can use shredded coconut instead.
Yes, you can easily double this cake and frosting recipe to take it from a single layer humming bird cake to a double layer cake.
if you want to use a 9×13-inch sheet pan, multiply the recipe by 1.5 and bake for 40-45 minutes.
If the cake has been frosted, it should be stored in the refrigerator. An unfrosted cake can be left at room temperature, but wrap it in plastic wrap or place it in a Ziploc bag to keep it airtight. Alternately, freeze this cake frosted or unfrosted for longterm storage.
Hummingbird Cake
Single-layer cake spiced and flavored with banana and pineapple and frosted with classic cream cheese frosting to complete its deliciousness. The prominent flavor is banana, with bits of juicy pineapple. It’s so moist, it will melt in your mouth!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups (280 g/10 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 g/8 oz) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup (180 ml) canola oil (or vegetable, safflower)
- 8 oz/227 g can crushed pineapple
- half of the pineapple juice from the can (drain half of the juice from the can pineapple and add the rest to the cake batter)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 ripe bananas
- ¾ cup (75 g) toasted pecans, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz/227 g cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (1 stick/115 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 – 2 ½ cups (240 – 300 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Hummingbird Cake
-
Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Grease a 9-inch cake pan or springform pan. Set aside.
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In a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, set aside.
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Either mixing by hand or in the bowl of a stand mixer eggs and sugar until combined, then add the oil, pineapple and juice, vanilla extract, and bananas. Add wet mixture to the flour mixture and mix on low or by hand just until combined. Stir in pecans.
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Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. If cake is browning too much while baking, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
-
In a bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
-
Add sugar in 2 additions, beating well after each addition until smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat for about another 2 minutes on high speed until completely smooth. If the frosting is too runny, add more sugar as necessary until you reach the desired consistency. You can add a pinch of salt or lemon juice to cut the sweetness if you like.
-
Spread frosting over the top (and sides if you want) of the cake, and sprinkle with chopped pecans for garnish, if you like.
Recipe Notes
Storing:
Store cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving. Alternately, the cake can also be frozen for up to two months in an airtight container.
Rachna says
Wow, looks so delicious. Love it
Nabila says
How long would you bake in a muffin tray?
Shiran says
Bake for 15-20 minutes in standard-sized pans.
Nabila says
So I made cupcakes with this recipe and it turned out beautiful…can the cupcakes sit out for 2 hours with frosting on top of i had previously refrigerated it since the night before? Making it for an event
Shiran says
Yes, it can sit outside for several hours. For cupcakes I usually add more sugar to the frosting, like in this recipe.
Sruthi says
Loved the recipes! Can you please tell me what can be used as a replacement for eggs in the humming bird cake and lemon cake?
Shiran says
I’m glad you like them! I’m sorry but I have no experience baking without eggs.
Donna says
I’m thinking of trying either “flax eggs” or egg replacer in this recipe due to anaphylactic egg allergy in our house. I also have to make it gluten free. Baking is a tricky science experiment for me with most recipes.
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi Donna, flax egg should work with this cake. I do have to admit, I’ve never used an egg replacer like flax egg while making a cake gluten free. Sometimes our experiments turn out and other days we wish we had a magic wand to fix them, right?! I do like the King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill brand gluten free 1:1 flour for baking cakes. Good luck, Donna!
Cheri Baker says
I recieved a recipe with no eggs in a cake and it was great 1 8oz can crushed pineapples 1 jar of cherries 1/2 cut a box of pineapple cake mix placed on top of pineapple and cherries sprinkle entire box of cake don’t stir and 1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter cut on top of cake mix cover entire pan place in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes or golden brown serve with vanilla ice cream. Delicious
Evangeline says
Can we use fresh pineapple in crushed form
Shiran says
It’s possible but because you also need some of the liquid from the can, I recommend using the canned one.
Suzanne says
This looks so good! Do you use this frosting for any other recipes?
Shiran says
Hi Suzanne. I use a similar recipe for all my recipes with cream cheese frosting.
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?