You’ll savor every morsel of this hummingbird cake that’s packed with banana, pineapple, and toasted pecans. A sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting tops off this gorgeous springtime cake!

Boy, do we ever have a gem of a cake on deck for today! It’s a layer cake with the literal prettiest name ever and so many incredible flavors that absolutely live up to their cake fun name.

Meet the hummingbird cake! A fancy name for banana + pineapple + pecans + cream cheese frosting all wrapped up into one absolutely stunning cake.

And just to be clear, no hummingbirds were harmed in the making of this cake! Just everyone’s diet.

This beautiful cake is one of our favorite cakes to make especially in the springtime because it’s just an absolute ray of sunshine with all the beautiful textures in the cake layers and that gorgeous ring of toasted pecans garnishing the top. The perfect cake for Easter celebrations, Mother’s Day, or any spring birthdays!

This Cake features…

Sweet banana and tropical crushed pineapple
A touch of cinnamon and lots of toasty pecans
A tangy, perfectly silky cream cheese frosting

Making the Cake

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

Bananas
Granulated sugar
Brown sugar
Eggs
Vegetable oil
Crushed pineapple
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Cornstarch
Cinnamon
Baking soda
Baking powder
Kosher salt
Pecans
Cream cheese
Unsalted butter
Powdered sugar

What is Hummingbird Cake?

Hummingbird cake is traditionally a springtime cake that originates from Jamaica and is also especially popular in southern U.S.

This cake typically features a soft banana-pineapple-pecan cake base with just a touch of cinnamon and a silky cream cheese frosting. It’s very reminiscent to carrot cake with the texture and flavors, but a bit more tropical!

Tips for Perfect Cake

Use ripe bananas – ideally, you want bananas that are very ripe for the best banana flavor in this cake.
Spoon and level flour – we use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
Toast pecans – this brings lots of fragrant flavor and texture out of the nuts. To quickly toast pecans, toss pecans around in a skillet over medium heat until they smell fragrant.
Don’t drain crushed pineapple – we want this additional juice in the cake for extra moistness!
Gently fold batter – overmixing will lead to a dry cake so use a gentle hand when folding batter.
Test cakes with toothpick – insert a toothpick in the center of each cake to test for doneness. The cakes are done when toothpick comes out clean.
Use softened cream cheese and butter for frosting – make sure these ingredients are at room temperature before beating into the frosting.
Cool cake completely before frosting – if you frost the cake while it’s still warm the frosting will melt off.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on this cake.

Use a different nut – classic hummingbird cake uses pecans, but almonds or walnuts would also be delicious in this cake.
Try a different frosting – you can use a classic vanilla buttercream in place of the cream cheese frosting.
Make it into cupcakes – this cake can easily be adjusted to cupcake form with a few minor adjustments. Fill about 12 cupcake liners 3/4 full of batter and bake at 350F 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes and frost per recipe instructions.

Storing Cake

Leftovers of this cake store well in refrigerator up to 6 days. We recommend covering cake lightly with plastic wrap or a cake cover to keep it moist.

If you’re serving this cake for an event, we recommend waiting until just before serving to top with pecans so they retain their crunch, but you can bake the layers, and frost the cake up to several days in advance and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

No one is going to be able to resist a huge slice of the luscious springtime cake! The soft crumb of the cake paired with the silky cream cheese frosting and all those toasty pecans is an absolute dream.

The perfect Easter cake or just-because cake! This is a cake for any and every occasion.

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

More springtime cakes to try next!

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