Vegan Hummingbird Cake

Decorated hummingbird cake on a plate with green napkin.

5 from 2 votes

A decadent, moist vegan cake with the tropical flavors of pineapple and banana. It has a rich, dairy-free cream cheese frosting. This cake is a family favorite!

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Total Time1 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 630kcal

Author: Jen Cardenas

Equipment

2 8" cake pans
cooling rack
Electric mixer

Ingredients

Cake

1 ¼ chopped pecans plus optional extra for decorating
2 cups all purpose flour
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed very well
8 oz. crushed pineapple (do not drain)
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup plant-based milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

1 cup vegan butter, slightly softened
1 cup vegan cream cheese (8 oz.)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the Cake

Preheat the oven to 300°. Spray 2 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread the chopped pecans on the baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes. Change the oven temperature to 350°.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Add in the mashed bananas, crushed pineapple with liquid, oil, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract. Mix until just combined.
Fold in the cooled chopped pecans.
Spread batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans. Bake for about 45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool in pans for at least 20 minutes before transferring cakes out of the pans and onto cooling racks. Finish cooling completely on wire racks.

Make the frosting

In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or in a stand mixer, cream the softened vegan butter.
Add in the vegan cream cheese and beat until well mixed. Do not overmix the cream cheese or it will get too loose.
Add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until all is added. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Store in the fridge until ready to use. As many kinds of vegan cream cheese contain coconut oil, you want to keep this frosting cold so that it doesn't melt.
Frost the cake and decorate with extra toasted chopped pecans (optional).

Notes

Cake and frosting can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Make sure the pecans are completely cool before adding to cake.
Keep the frosting cool at all times so that the coconut oil (an ingredient in most vegan cream cheese) doesn't melt.
It's easy to accidentally make your vegan cream cheese frosting too liquidy - trust me, I know! The key is to not overmix the cream cheese and to keep it cool.

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