This vegan hummingbird cake is made with three layers of cinnamon-spiced pecan studded banana pineapple cake, with dairy-free cream cheese frosting in between. Every bite is like a mouthful of sunshine!
Hummingbird cake might just be the ultimate spring dessert. Carrot cake tends to get all the attention this time of year, and I totally get that. This southern-style vegan hummingbird cake has some similarities to my vegan carrot cake recipe — it's nutty, moist, spiced, and includes pineapple. But instead of carrots, the main flavor featured in this cake is banana. It's tropical and fruity, and I think we could all use that after a long, cold winter!
This one is a three layer cake, but it's surprisingly easy to make. It has a somewhat rustic look and feel, thanks to lots of fruit and nuts in the batter, so there's no need to fuss with getting everything all perfect and even.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Water.
- Ground flaxseed. This ingredient is important! We'll be mixing it with the water to create a flax egg, one of my favorite vegan egg substitutes to bake with.
- Flour. In this recipe we're using all-purpose wheat flour, or white flour. I'm guessing some other flours will work, but without testing them I can't say for sure!
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Ground cinnamon.
- Salt.
- Bananas. Your bananas need to be overripe, meaning they're yellow with lots of brown spots, as shown in the photo above.
- Crushed pineapple. Use a can of crushed pineapple with juice. This will give you exactly the right amounts of pineapple and liquid.
- Vegetable oil. Any plant-based oil that's normally used for baking will work. Corn oil, canola oil, and melted coconut oil are all suitable options.
- Vanilla extract.
- Sugar. Make sure your sugar is organic. Conventional sugar may be processed using animal bone char, so it's not considered vegan.
- Brown sugar. Same deal! This needs to be organic.
- Chopped pecans. While pecans are traditional for hummingbird cake, feel free to leave them out if nuts aren't your thing or you have an allergy. You could also swap them out with walnuts if you prefer.
- Vegan cream cheese frosting. I highly recommend using a double batch of my homemade vegan cream cheese frosting. It's so good with this cake. However, if you prefer another frosting, I understand. My vegan vanilla buttercream will also work. Whatever you use, make sure there's plenty of it!
- Pecan halves. These are totally optional, but they make a beautiful (and delicious) garnish for this cake.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
First, make your flax egg by stirring the water and flaxseeds together in a large bowl. The mixture will need to sit for a few minutes to gel.
Grab another bowl. While the flax egg sits, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set this aside.
In yet another bowl (last one!), mash your banana with a fork or potato masher. Make sure to measure it! You'll need one and a half cups.
Now stir the pineapple (juice and all — don't drain it!), oil, and vanilla into the bowl with the banana. Now set this aside.
Grab the bowl with the flax egg. It should have had plenty of time to gel by now. Add the sugar and brown to the bowl, then beat the mixture with an electric mixer until it's a bit foamy.
Now switch from the mixer to a spoon, and stir the banana pineapple mixture into the bowl with the flax mixture. It won't blend up completely, but that's fine!
Stir the flour mixture in with the wet ingredients, adding it in a few increments, then fold in the pecans.
Divide the batter among three oiled and parchment paper lined cake pans, then pop them into the oven!
Tip: To get your cake layers perfectly even, weigh your pans using a kitchen scale when adding the batter.
Let the layers cool before removing them from the pans, then slather each one with frosting as you stack them up. Finish your vegan hummingbird cake by covering the top and outside with additional frosting, then slice it up and serve it.
Shelf Life & Storage
Vegan hummingbird cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about a day, in the fridge for about five days, or in the freezer for about three months. I highly recommend storing it in the fridge if it's warm out, even if you're planning on serving it that day.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients
- â…“ cup water
- 3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups mashed overripe banana (about 3 to 4 bananas)
- 1 (8 ounce/227 gram) can crushed pineapple, with juice (do not drain)
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup organic granulated sugar
- ½ cup organic brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
For Serving
- 2 batches vegan cream cheese frosting (Note 1)
- Pecan halves, optioal
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Lightly oil three 8-inch round cake pans, then line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir the water and flaxseed together. Set the mixture aside while you combine the dry ingredients. It will need to sit for at least 5 minutes for the flaxseeds to gel.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set this aside.
- Stir the banana, pineapple, oil, and vanilla together in a medium mixing bowl. Set this aside.
- Add the sugar and brown sugar to the bowl with the flax mixture. Beat the ingredients together using an electric mixer at high speed for one minute, until the mixture is slightly foamy.
- Add the banana mixture to the flax mixture. Stir everything together by hand. The ingredients may not combine completely at this stage, which is fine.
- Begin stirring the flour mixture into the flax and banana mixture. Add the flour mixture in about three increments, stirring each in just until combined.
- Fold the pecans into the batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pans, distributing it as evenly as you can.
- Place the baking pans into the oven. Bake the cake layers for 26 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Place the cake pans on cooling racks when you take them out of the oven. Let the cake layers cool completely.
- Once they're cool, carefully invert one of the layers onto a cake dish, then remove the parchment paper (Note 2).
- Slather the top of the cake layer with frosting, then carefully remove a second layer from the pan and place it over the first layer. Slather the second layer with frosting, then place the third layer on top. Cover the top and sides of the cake with frosting. Optionally, garnish the cake with pecan halves.
- Slice the cake and serve.
Notes
- Vegan vanilla buttercream frosting can also be used.
- Gently run a knife around the outer edges of the cake if you have trouble getting it out of the pan.
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I made this cake and it was delicious. The recipe is easy to follow. I used the vanilla buttercream frosting which also turned out perfect. Thank you for all the recipes. They are very helpful when I want something sweet but also vegan.