Throwback to the late 1970’s Hummingbird Cake has recently regained popularity
Said to be of Jamaican decent then known as the Dr. Bird Cake owed to the Red-billed Streamertail hummingbird native to the island.
It is said that the cakes sweetness is enough to attract hummingbirds just as they would be attracted to nectar.
But don’t be misled! This recipe for Hummingbird Cake is not too sweet!
Fluffy layers made with Banana, Pineapple, Pecans and a hint of orange in mine!
Paired up with my famous “No Cream Cheese” Icing recipe!
Notes for Success
The recipe makes 3 layers of 7″ cake or 2 thicker 8″ layers
Monk fruit sugar (or your favorite sugar substitute) for half of the sugar listed does wonders for the calories in this one!
Additionally I have applesauce listed for half of the oil but if you prefer all oil ~ be my guest!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE THE HUMMINGBIRD CAKE
Hummingbird Cake
My hummingbird cake is not too sweet! Fluffy layers made with Banana, Pineapple, Pecans and a hint of orange in paired up with my famous 2-2-2 icing!
Ingredients
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil 118ml
- ¼ cup Applesauce 60g
- ½ cup Plant Milk
- 1 cup Brown Sugar 200g
- 1 cup Ripe Banana 250g
- 3¼ cups All Purpose Flour 400g
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 cup Crushed Pineapple Drained
- 1 Tbs Orange Zest
- 2 Tbs Orange Juice
- 1 cup Toasted Pecans
FOR THE ICING
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F & prepare your cake pans with grease & parchment paper lining
- In a large bowl combine the sugar, oil, mashed banana, applesauce, plant milk, orange juice & zest & salt whisk smooth
- Then sift together all of the dry ingredients directly into the bowl & whisk smooth
- Fold in the drained pineapple & pecans
- Pour batter into your prepared cake pans & bake for approximately 30 minutes depending on the size of your pans. Or until the cakes are springy to the touch when you gently press the centers
- Cool cakes in the pans until you can safely touch them with your fingers then flip out onto a cooling rack to cool completely
- Prepare the Cream Cheese Icing then assemble cake as shown in the video
Video
Notes
As of May 2025 I have turned off the commenting feature on my recipes
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Thank you Gretchen. This cake turned our beautifully. It’s so tropical and tasty and I can’t wait to share it with friends. I’m loving your vegan bakery!
thank you for the feedback! Much appreciated!
Hi Gretchen,
Can I use aquafaba? Just wonder if it will produce a lighter cake
Hi Angela, I know the photos are not the best on this cake, but hopefully you can see that this cake is already light & very moist.
Adding aquafaba to cake recipes does not always mean=lighter cakes, on the contrary many recipes where people sub in AF could result in heavy gummy cakes almost raw cakes.
Especially since I have already added applesauce to replace some of the oil in the original recipe, aquafaba would throw the balance off
I would not recommend to make any substitutions here, and if you notice there is not even an egg replacer required for this recipe
Really lovely cake! Like you said sweet but not too sweet 🙂 I am just wondering the difference in cream cheese icing from your carrot cake recipe, for example that one has optional buttercream added and different mixing process. Thanks 🙂
Yes thanks! I prefer this new mixing method because I find that the vegan cream cheese is really touchy to over-mixing. And the buttercream addition is just optional. I do it sometimes, sometimes I don’t
Can I make this with cake flour ? I have recipe I use but wanted to try this since you are amazing
Thanks! Yes you can, however in a recipe like this (high liquid content) I like to use at least a portion of AP flour since it will absorb more liquids than cake flour.
Fantantic recipe. I made the cake on Sunday. Froze the layers, thawed them out Thanksgiving morning and frost it 1 hour before dinner. It was a hit for the meat eaters and the be vegans. I got requests for the recipe. I will definitely save this recipe soni can make over and over again. Thank you for this recipe and the tip of using vinegar to make the frosting.
Wow! I made this recipe into cupcakes today and it was divine! Looks of great feedback by all! I couldn’t find vegan cream cheese though so I used a different icing recipe ?
Hie instead of applesauce what else we can use..??
Oil, the applesauce was a replacement for (the original amount) of oil. I just wanted to lighten it up a bit!
Hi Gretchen, this cake looks absolutely amazing! I am planning on making this for my sister’s birthday this weekend! I do have a question regarding the oil and applesauce in this recipe. If I choose to use just oil and no applesauce, how much in cups or ml will that be equivalent to?
Thank you so much!
HI! Yes you can replace the applesauce with the same amount of oil!
I’m saving this recipe in ‘favourites’. This cake is delicious. I’m a big carrot cake fan but I’d say I like this even more. I followed the recipe and it worked perfectly. I froze the cakes for a couple days before preparing for Easter.
Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Gretchen! Thank you for the amazing recipe but can I know the metric for 1 cup of bananas and pineapple, please. Appreciate your help.
Yes sorry about that 1 cup of banana is usually approx 2 bananas (mashed) which is approx 200g
1 cup of pineapple will weigh about the same 180-200g
Turned out beautifully light and browned and fluffy and was a hit, though universally thought of as delicious and slightly too sweet from the party for both the cake and frosting, even though I cut sugar for the frosting, but followed this recipe as is. Will cut sugar next time.