This homemade hummingbird cake recipe has a cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
Do you have friends who are recipe sharers? I am blessed to have several in my life. My dear friend Mari brought me a recipe for Hummingbird Cake back from one of her vacations to Georgia. I was first intrigued by the name because it reminded me of a cake my Grandma made when I was a child. I decided I had to try it when I saw the cake contained pineapple and banana. I have made a few minor tweaks to the recipe because that’s how I roll, but it is close to the original recipe.
In the summer of 2001, my then 10-year-old daughter entered this hummingbird cake recipe at the county fair and received both first place and the judge’s award for her efforts. So I feel entirely justified when I say this is a seriously delicious cake!
Hummingbird cake is basically a spice cake with fruit in it. The fruit makes it slightly sweeter and adds a brighter flavor than spice cake. Since it is topped with my cinnamon cream cheese frosting it kind of reminds me of carrot cake. And perhaps because it reminds me of carrot cake, it has somehow evolved to be the cake I serve on Easter.
Hummingbird Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup mild oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 – 8 ounce can crushed pineapple, do not drain
- 2 cups chopped pecans, divided
- 2 cups diced bananas
- 1 cup pecan halves
Directions:
- Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- Add the eggs and oil, and stir by hand until the dry ingredients are moist.
- Stir in the vanilla, pineapple (with juice), 1 cup of chopped pecans, and the diced bananas. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon the batter into 3 greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes.
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Spread the cinnamon cream cheese frosting between the layers, on top, and on all sides.
- Place the pecan halves around the top of the cake.
- Take the remaining chopped nuts and chop them very finely. Then press the finely chopped pecans all the way around the side of the cake.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
If you want thick layers of icing on your hummingbird cake, you can double this frosting recipe. This cake is quite sweet, so I usually only put a thin layer of frosting on it.
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 – 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Frosting Directions:
- Combine the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl; beating until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.
- Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Printable Recipe for Hummingbird Cake
Hummingbird Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup mild oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 8 ounce can crushed pineapple do not drain
- 2 cups chopped pecans divided
- 2 cups diced bananas
- 1 cup pecan halves
Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 ounce cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Directions:
- Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- Add the eggs and oil, stir by hand until the dry ingredients are moist.
- Stir in the vanilla, pineapple (with juice), 1 cup of chopped pecans, and bananas. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon the batter into 3 greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Spread the cinnamon cream cheese frosting between the layers, on top, and on all sides.
- Place the pecan halves around the top of the cake.
- Take the remaining chopped nuts and chop them very finely. Then press the finely chopped pecans all the way around the side of the cake.
Frosting Directions:
- Combine the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl; beating until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.
- Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy
More Cake Recipes
Vanilla Depression Cake Recipe
Brown Sugar Pecan Coffee Cake Recipe
Vanilla Bundt Cake with Berry Topping
Mason Jar Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake
This recipe was originally published on June 2, 2009. It was updated on March 21, 2022.
Donna @ Modern on Monticello says
I haven’t had a slice of this cake in a very long time. Thank you for sharing it and of course I pinned it to try out. This recipe will also be one of our featured posts this week. #HomeMattersParty
Sherry says
never seen this kind of recipe before, but it sounds great!
Jerri - Simply Sweet Home says
I’ll have to try you frosting recipe. I was making some cinnamon bread the other day, and I was in a hurry so I mixed up a small batch of frosting with cream cheese, sugar, and milk. It was actually pretty good, but in the future I’d like to use an actual recipe.
Brenda says
I have not seen this recipe in years! I used to love it.
Jerralea says
Sorry you’re having a Jonah day, but hope eating your cake helps. It looks like it would to me! 🙂 I’ve never put cinnamon in cream cheese icing but it sounds delish!
Alea says
That’s funny. I have never heard of anyone other than my grandma making this recipe before.
It is wonderful, even people who think they don’t like fruit in cake like it.
I added cinnamon to the frosting my grandma makes because my kids didn’t care for regular cream cheese frosting.
Jen - Balancing Beauty and Bedlam says
You’ll never believe this. I just printed out this exact recipe when I was looking at what to make with all my very ripe bananas. 🙂
Great minds think alike. 🙂