Absolute BEST Hummingbird Cake Recipe – A springtime favorite that is perfect for holidays or any day. We found this recipe a long time ago on Southern Living & for sure, its the best recipe we have ever tried. Original recipe is made in layers & this time we are making it in a Bundt Style Hummingbird Cake.
Ingredients for cake batter:
- 1/2 – 1 cup chopped pecans (amount depends on your preference, we love lots of pecans)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1-3/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large)
- 1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple (do NOT drain)
- 3/4 cup canola oil
- 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- (Glaze ingredients listed under step #4)
- Prepare Cake Batter: Preheat over to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8-10 minutes or until toasted & fragrant, stirring halfway through.
- Stir together flour & next 4 ingredients in a large bowl & stir in eggs & next 4 ingredients, stirring until fully moistened. Sprinkle 1 cup toasted pecans into a greased & floured 14-cup Bundt cake pan & then spoon batter over pecans.
- Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour & 10 mins or until a long wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cake on a wire rack 15 minutes, then remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely (approx 2 hours).
- Prepare Glaze: Process 4 oz cream cheese– cubed and softened, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon milk in a food processor until well blended. Add another 1 tablespoon milk, 1 tsp at a time, processing until smooth. Immediately, spoon or glaze over cooled cake, and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup toasted pecans on top. **Please note that when making this, we made 1-1/2 times the frosting. This amount just doesn’t seem enough & we LOVE the frosting glaze! YUM!
**One option to applying the cheese cake frosting is to put in plastic bag, cut off tip & drizzle it. Cut the bag small for thin or larger for fatter drip.
Another option is to make a Hummingbird cake in layers. For recipe & pictures, come see our post Best Hummingbird Cake Recipe
This looks so delicious! The frosting glaze has me drooling. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty 🙂
Yummmm! This sounds so good!
I haven’t had a good cake in a while!
Thanks for linking up with us at Talented Tuesday, hope to see you again this week!!
Instructions are a bit confusing. What next four ingredients after the eggs? I only see bananas. And where is the pineapple? I thought I could just follow the layer cake recipe and use a bundt pan, but with the pecans sprinkled in the bottom of the pan. Is that not the case?? Please advise!!
O My Goodness you are right Karen! Thank you so much for pointing that out.. major mistake & forgot to add the next 3 ingredients. I am adding it right now… Thanx again!!!
Need amounts for each ingredient in the glaze recipe. Is it the same as the frosting for the layer cake or more “pourable”? It’s also a 1-1/2 x recipe? Will it be too much for the Bundt? Thanks so much.
Karen, I totally don’t know where my head was when I typed up the recipe- you are a lifesaver to see my errors so I can correct them. Thank you so much. The glaze frosting is different from the Hummingbird Layer Cake frosting which is thick & spreadable. This glaze is a looser consistency- we used a spoon to pour from but you can also put it in a bag to squeeze it if you want to be more consistent with the lines/decorating. also, the ingredients listed for the glaze is one batch that we then used to double. We LOVE a lot of glaze on the Bundt cake.
I have never had humming bird cake before. But this looks so delicious. I have to try this. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.
I never had any either Trish! Till Carol made it. And OMGoodness its amazing! Hope you give it a try. Let us know how you like it.
A girlfriend made this cake for me almost 50 years ago. It’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted! I’m planning to make it next week for my grandson. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Fabulous! How did it come out Debbie? Hope your grandson loved it!
An 80 oz can of pineapple sounds quite huge! I have a can that’s 20 oz and I thought that seemed right? Do I need 4 cans?
OMyGoodness Lynette, thank you so much for spotting that error. It is an 8 oz can.
When typed out, we had it as 8oz with no space so it looked like 80 but it is 8. Thank you so so much for pointing this out to us so we could fix it. Let us know how your cake comes out 😉
This cake was absolutely perfect! The only thing I would change is the amount of pecans listed. It says 1/2 cup toasted, but later it says to add 1 cup of pecans to the bottom of the bundt. I did a full cup as I like pecans anyway ?.
Hi Ellie, We also LOVE pecans so I think thats why we wrote “1 cup” in the instructions but forgot to correct the ingredient list. Thank you so much for pointing that out- it is now fixed to read 1/2 – 1 cup per preference.
Thank you so much!!
My husband’s grandmother LOVED hummingbird cake. This recipe brings back such sweet memories of her!
I’d love for you stop by and link up with The Alder Collective Link Party! http://winsteadwandering.com/the-alder-collective-link-party-no-21/
This cake looks so pretty. My dad has a hilarious story about hummingbird cake that he made one time! I can’t remember it now, so I’m off to ask him. I just always think of laughing with him when I here the words hummingbird cake!Thanks so much for linking up at You Link It, We Make It – we hope to see you back this week! http://uncookiecutter.com/2016/03/mexican-quiche-appetizers-link-make-6/
We so want to know that story LOL!! Thanx so much for hosting such an awesome link party 😉
Ok, making this today! Wish me luck!
Yeah!! How did it come out? Hope everyone loved it!!
Does this cake need to be refrigerated? I made the cake today but won’t put the glaze on until tomorrow before leaving for Easter supper.
Thank you!
Hi Crystal- so sorry, with the busy holiday weekend, didn’t see this until today/now. It is ok to leave it out overnight without the glaze. Did everyone love it?? We sure hope so. Its such a favorite for us 😉
Saw the recipe yest on pinterest. ..
Made it..first time so was a bit apprehensive how it would turn out…but my worries were baseless. ..
I lovvveed it….
Shared it with friends. ..even the picky eaters loved it and came bk for seconds…
I baked in a 10 cup fluted mould…and my cake was done by 55 mins..yummm 🙂
Thats awesome Leena! So glad you gave it a try. Do try it with the glaze next time.. its fabulous. Let us know what you think… 😉
And yes…forgot to add tht I did not glaze it…
It was yum yum even without it…next time will try with the topping
I’m getting ready to make this little hummer. Is it okay to use mixer or is it all supposed to be done by hand? I know some cakes are very specific. Also, is cake flower okay or good ole all purpose?
Hi Phyllis, Yes, we use the all purpose flour. For mixing, we recommend mixing by hand for this recipe. Thanx so much for asking! Let us know how it comes out 😉
I have been making this cake for over 50 years as a bundt cake and withOUT frosting…delicious! I also mix this cake by HAND , without using a mixer since it is an oil based cake–combine all dry ingredients and make a well in center to add the remaing ingredients and mix/stir with wooden spoon until dry ingredients are completely absorped. Another time saving hint: bananas don’t need to be mashed. I cut the banana in quarters lengthwise and then slice them about 1/4 inch thick. Hope these hints help! Unfrosted cake is also delicious sliced and toasted,in toaster oven, and spread with butter. Enjoy!!
Hi Rose, Thanx for sharing your tips! We totally agree the cake is delicious with or without the frosting 😉
Can I swap the canola oil for another type? Maybe coconut oil?
Hi Imogen, So sorry to say we have never tried using coconut oil. Would you let us know how it works if you try the recipe with it? There are so many wonderful articles on how good coconut oil is so we would be very interested to know how your Hummingbird Cake comes out.
I use extra light olive oil in all my baking that calls for oil, and have used it for hummingbird cake also, if that helps.
We are big fans of olive oil too. Good to know it works well for the Hummingbird Cake. Thanx so much for sharing that info Karen 😉
I just made this today and couldn’t resist trying a slice while still warm – talk about delicious! I’m always leery about recipes that have comments that say “looks yummy” “must try this one day” “pinned for later”…when I read the comments it’s to find out how well the recipe works…thankfully there were a few that had actually MADE the cake and it was enough to get me to try it and I’m soo glad I did! I came up short with the banana amount – 4 gave me only 1 /4 cups but up here in my part of Canada the smallest tin of pineapple I could find equaled 14 oz so I just added the whole can and it came out to the proper amount of fruit. I’m sure I’ll be making this recipe again!
So glad you gave it a try Jane. And especially thrilled that you loved it. Thanx for writing to share with us!!
I so agree with you Jane!! We already know it looks yummy. We want to know if it tastes good, tips on adding something else to the Recipe, ext. Like I’m going to put Coconut in mine. Glad you brought this up, thanks, Dottie
This was one of the best and most delicious cakes I have ever made.Tyvm.
It’s one of our favorites and it really means a lot to hear that you enjoyed it so much. Thank you sooo much for sharing that with us Joan! 😉
It is in the oven now, but uh-oh looks like I forgot the vanilla! Hope it turns out ok anyway. 🙁
Oh my goodness that is something we can relate to so many times. How did it come out Malissa? Hope it was still wonderful!
This is one of our favorite cakes. It makes a pretty large cake which is perfect for gatherings or covered dish affairs. I have made this several times and froze it and then thawed and frosted it to take on RV trips. It freezes beautifully and I think freezing makes it moister. It’s a great recipe which always turns out perfectly.
Hi Lynn, that’s a great point about freezing it. We love to prep in advance any chance we can. Thanks so much for sharing!!
This is my go to Hummingbird cake recipe. Its phenomenal!! Church folk and coworkers always ask me , when am I gonna make another one. Lol 😆
That is awesome!! We are so thrilled that you shared that with us. 😉
Made your cake last weekend for Kentucky Derby party. I made one change up, because of it being the Kentucky Derby I mixed in some honey bourbon. Everyone loved it! I was grateful that there was some left to take home.
What a fabulous idea Nona! This is something we need to try. Do you know how much you added? Think it’s worth we add it to the optional part of the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Help! I see only amounts, but no ingredients.
Hi JK, I hope you were able to see the list of ingredients. It is under the photos and above the directions. Or maybe it was a browser issue and for some reason, had a glitch. Hope you were able to make this fabulous cake and everyone enjoyed!!
Can you make cupcakes out of this recipe?
Hi Jennifer, Yes cupcakes come out delicious!
Hi, Why do you put the Pecans on the bottom of the pan? Shouldn’t they be in the cake mix?
Thanks
Hi, Can I cut the sugar in half to make it less sweet?
Thanks
Hi Cheryl, One option I do is to mix sugar and a good quality sugar substitute together (like trivia, swerve, monkfruit).
Hope that is a good option for you. Let us know how it comes out 😉
Taste like a banana cake. No hint that f pineapple at all.
Wow, that is interesting. Must be a personal taste. Hope you give it a try again some time and see if it’s the same. This cake is such a favorite for us.
I just made this for my family reunion. The Hummingbird Cake was a hit.
That’s awesome! So glad it was a hit. Thanks for letting us know.
Love this cake!!! Easy recipe! Added 20 oz of crushed pineapple instead of 8 oz and doubled the frosting!! 😛 Great celebration cake…made for my Mom’s 85th (and other family events when it’s requested 😋).
Love that!! It really is such a great cake for celebrations & holidays. Happy 85th to your mom!!
This is a very good cake! A keeper according to my husband. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
That’s awesome! So glad you & your husband enjoy it!
I made this for Easter dessert and it was a winner! I saw comments about baking taking less time so I was watching. Mine was done in 50 minutes. I also reduced the sugar in mine by about at half cup.
So glad! and thank you for letting us know your adjustments. Love how this recipe can be tweaked per our preferences. Thanks for sharing!