Hummingbird Cake was first submitted to Southern Living magazine in 1978 by Mrs. L.H. Wiggins from Greensboro, North Carolina. According to Southern Living it is one of the most popular Southern cakes ever made.

The cake is truly amazing with the star ingredients of crushed pecans, mashed bananas and crushed pineapple – which makes it extra moist. Of course, topped off with cream cheese frosting (and more pecans!) which makes it extra delicious 😋

Hummingbird Cake

Cake Ingredients

2 cups chopped pecans

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large bananas

One 8 oz can crushed pineapple (do not drain the juice)

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

16 oz cream cheese (2 bricks), softened to room temperature

4 cups Confectioners Sugar

1 + 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

A pinch of salt, if desired

Directions for the Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients. Set the bowl aside.

In a medium bowl, add the mashed bananas, crushed pineapple, eggs, vegetable oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vegetable extract.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Fold in 1 and 1/2 cups of the pecans into the batter. Set the rest of the pecans aside to use later to garnish the cake.

Spread the batter evenly into the
three prepared cake pans.

Bake for 26-29 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pans before removing. Place the cakes on a wire baking rack to cool completely before frosting.

Layer and top the cakes with the cream cheese frosting and garnish with the remaining pecans.

Directions for the Cream Cheese Frosting

In a large bowl, use a hand held mixer and beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed until smooth – about 2 minutes.

Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt (if needed).

Mix for at least 3 minutes until completely combined and creamy.

Add more confectioners sugar if frosting is too thin or a little bit of milk if frosting is too thick.