Hummingbird cake
Serves: 12-14
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Mowie Kay
Hummingbird cake
Packed with bananas, juicy pineapple, pecans and warm spices, this wonderfully moist cake is full of flavour – and just so happens to be vegan, too. It’s finished with a lime frosting, while dried pineapple flowers give it a party-ready flourish
Serves: 12-14
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving (1 of 12))
Calories
641Kcal
Fat
29gr
Saturates
9gr
Carbs
90gr
Sugars
68gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
5gr
Salt
1.3gr
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Ingredients
- 125ml vegetable oil, plus extra to grease
- 125g pecans
- 1 x 227g tin pineapple (slices or pieces)
- 320g plain flour
- 175g light brown soft sugar
- 125g golden caster sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 5 cardamom pods, seeds finely crushed
- 425g mashed overripe bananas (about 4-5 medium)
- 180ml almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the pineapple flowers (optional)
- 8 x 1-2mm pineapple rounds (thinly sliced from a peeled pineapple)
- 2 tsp maple syrup
For the frosting
- 200g Flora plant-based salted butter, softened
- 400g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp almond milk
- zest of 1 lime, plus the juice of ½
Step by step
Get Ahead
Make the sponge layers a day ahead and store in an airtight container. Alternatively, wrap well and freeze. Store the finished cake for 3-4 days in a cool place.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm round cake tins with oil and line the bases with baking paper. Spread the pecans out on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 6-8 minutes. Leave to cool, then finely chop. Drain and finely chop the pineapple, then return the fruit to the sieve to carry on draining while you continue.
- Put the flour, both sugars, baking powder, bicarb, salt and spices into a large mixing bowl. Stir with a balloon whisk until combined. In a separate bowl, use the same whisk to combine the oil, mashed bananas, almond milk and vanilla. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, then pour in the wet mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold through the pineapple and pecans. Divide the cake batter between the prepared tins and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, if making the pineapple flowers, reduce the oven temperature to 120°C, fan 100°C, gas ½. Arrange the thinly sliced pineapple on a wire rack set over a lined oven tray. Brush lightly on both sides with the maple syrup and bake for 1½-2 hours, until golden and dry but still flexible; the oven time will depend on the ripeness of the fruit. While warm, press into the cups of a mini muffin tin or an empty egg box, or espresso cups or similar. Leave to firm up.
- For the frosting, beat the plantbased butter until soft. In two batches, sift over the icing sugar and beat until combined. Add the almond milk and lime zest and juice, then beat for a few more minutes until light and creamy. Transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
- To assemble, briefly beat the chilled frosting again, until smooth. Place one sponge on a flat serving plate or cake stand. Transfer half the frosting to a piping bag, then snip off a 1.5cm opening. Pipe large blobs onto the bottom sponge layer, then sandwich with the other sponge layer. Fill the piping bag with the remaining frosting, then pipe onto the top of the cake. Decorate with the dried pineapple flowers, if using.
