Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
You’ll love this easy one-bowl Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake has banana, pineapple pieces and pecans inside, and is filled with a fluffy and rich cream cheese frosting.

A Hummingbird Cake is a classic North American dessert, particularly in the Deep South. It’s a sweet cake filled with tropical fruits like banana and pineapple, pecan nuts, cinnamon spice, and topped with lush cream cheese frosting.
The Hummingbird Cake is believed to be a Jamaican creation. However, that wasn’t its original name. It had the intriguing title “Doctor Bird Cake”. But how did the Hummingbird cake get its name? Apparently “Doctor bird” is Jamaican slang for their national bird, the hummingbird. And the pops of yellow colouring in the cake allegedly drew comparisons to the yellow-hued hummingbird. Another popular theory is that the hummingbird cake is so sweet and enticing that the hummingbirds were attracted to it like nectar.
Yet another theory is that hummingbird cake is so delicious that humans hover over it, picking at it like hummingbirds. I’ve seen this one play out for real in our household.
This tropical cake made its way from Jamaica to mainland America due to some clever marketing at the 1968 launch of Air Jamaica. The recipe was included in travel media kits sent to the US. It “went viral” in modern terms, was published in the Southern Living magazine, won Favourite Cake awards in the US, and in 1990 it took the title of the most requested recipe in Southern Living’s history.
I love making a layered Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s very simple to put together, and is mixed in just one bowl! There’s no butter in the cake. Instead, the moisture comes from oil, and the crushed bananas and pineapple pieces.
The key to this cake and any cake involving bananas is to use extremely ripe bananas. They’re ready when their skins are mottled heavily with brown spots. Too soon, and the cake won’t have that sweet rich taste.
As usual, I have a Hummingbird cake video tutorial below to watch for the method I used.
Enjoy baking this cake, and be sure to snag a piece for yourself when it’s done before the other hummingbirds around you take their share.
HOW TO MAKE HUMMINGBIRD CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
How to make Hummingbird Cake
Servings | Prep Time | Cook Time | Passive Time |
12slices | 20mins | 35mins | 1hr |
Servings | Prep Time |
12slices | 20mins |
Cook Time | Passive Time |
35mins | 1hr |
- Cake
- 300 g Caster Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 300 ml Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
- 3 Very Ripe Bananas mashed
- 100 g Tinned Pineapple drained, diced
- 100 g Pecan Nuts chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate Soda
- 300 g Plain Flour
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- 600 g Icing Sugar
- 100 g Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature
- 250 g Cream Cheese chilled, cubed
- 50 g Pecan Nuts chopped, to decorate
Ingredients
Servings: slices
Units:
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- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees fan-forced; 350 F). Line the bottom of two 20cm round cake tins with baking paper and grease the sides with non-stick spray.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer add the sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla, cinnamon and mashed banana. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Mix in the drained pineapple pieces, pecan nuts and salt.
- Add the bicarbonate soda and half of the flour. Gently fold into the batter. Add the remaining flour and mix gently by hand until just combined.
- Split the cake batter evenly between the two cake tins. Bake on the middle rack of the oven, for about 30-35 minutes. The cakes are done when their tops are golden brown and they spring back when lightly pressed. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Turn them onto a wire rack and let them cool completely. Meanwhile, make the cream cheese frosting.
- Add the icing sugar mixture and soft butter to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat them together on medium speed with the flat paddle attachment until all combined. The texture will look dry and sandy for now.
- With the beaters still running drop in the cream cheese one cube at a time. As more cream cheese is added the dry texture will transform into a soft creamy frosting. On medium-high speed continue beating for about 5 minutes, until the frosting until it’s fluffy.
- When the cakes are cool, slice any lumps and bumps from the tops so they’re both flat and even. Sandwich the two cakes together with at least 1cm of cream cheese frosting. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the top with chopped pecan nuts.
- If the frosting is runny it’s been over-beaten and/or the butter used was liquid rather than soft and spreadable. Place the frosting in the fridge to firm up before using.
- Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container or protected from the air in a cake stand with the lid on. It keeps for about 3 days.
You might like our other baking recipes that have cream cheese frosting like Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Ginger Beer Date Cake with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting, Red Velvet Layer Cake, Flourless Lemon Cake, and Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes.
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What a fabulous initiative (and what illustrious company you’re keeping with these days!) I just love the moistness of a good hummingbird cake. Go the pineapple!
This cake looks delicious! You are right, buying bananas only to crush them up for cake feels like a crime at the moment. I will definitely be downloading a copy of that cookbook to raise awareness for Oxfam. Also I am addicted to the latest Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. My co-workers are reaping the benefits by the cupcake load :)
hummingbird cake with cream cheese frosting is my favourite cake :D yours looks fantastic!
Looks so moist and delicious. Pineapples the Chuck Norris of fruits, hehehe, so true!
That book is a great idea. My husband goes bananas for hummingbird cake – no pun intended, well, maybe it was! I will have all the goodies on hand, and I really should give this a go!
Oh my.. I love hummingbird cake… the first I had it was somewhere in Feb/March in a NY dedicated cafe in Malaysia.. so good!
Oh that looks so gorgeous, I love hummingbird cake especially the cream cheese frosting!! Great pictures too
Great post and beautiful way to raise awareness. Most of us are very lucky here in the western world.
Lovely retro cake! So fluffy and fresh looking.
I’ve always wanted to make Hummingbird Cake. I love the name and I love all the ingredients of banana and pineapple. But my partner HATES banana. He cannot stand the smell or look of them. I am not able to bring bananas into our sweet apartment. He HATES them so much he’ll know if a banana has stepped into the flat even if it was only visiting for 3 seconds!
Great points about world hunger. I work in philanthropy and am quite passionate about social justice/common good appeals, so will have a look into Oxfam. Last year I asked for my xmas gift to be an Oxfam donation, so I’m already a fan :)
On a totally different note, your comment about bananas is hilarious. Totally agreed, the prices are psycho. And cream cheese frosting is my personal heaven, so this cake is just an extraordinary win.
What a great post, it is easy to forget about all those who can not afford to feed their children when your at the checkout feeling sorry for yourself paying $7 for 4 banana’s you know will only be half eaten (me yesterday). I have that cookbook and have yet to try any recipes, but it is soooo pretty. Think I’m a bit inspired now to have another look at it.
Chuck Norris of fruits. I love it. To be honest, preparing fresh pineapple scares me a bit! But knowing now that it is the Chuck Norris of Fruits. I think I’ll give it another go :)
This cake looks fabulous – and for a great cause too.
I love hummingbird cake – I think the lashings of the cream cheese icing really finish it off! Looks delish!
This looks absolutely delicious. It was great being part of this fantastic fundraiser!
do you first DRAIN the pineapple or do you throw in the juice as well?
and if you don’t have pineapple, could I add 100 grams chopped apples (realizing this would no longer be a hummingbird cake)?
Hi Sophie! Yes, the pineapple pieces are drained before adding them. I’m sure finely diced apple would be fine too. Happy baking! Emma – The Cake Mistress 🍰
cheese cake is my favourite.. this hummingbird cheese cake will very tasty..
It looks delicious!