Vegan Hummingbird Sheet Cake

I’ve been wanting to make a vegan hummingbird cake for years but just never got around to it. It some of those desserts that’s been on my radar and I always thought it to be a southern cake but it’s thought to have origins in Jamaica. One theory is that the hummingbird (also known as the Doctor-Bird), is the Jamaican National Bird and that a recipe for Doctor-Bird cake appeared in the Jamaican Daily Gleaner in March 1969. The recipe included bananas, one of the main ingredients for Hummingbird Cake. Another is that since is appeared in a 1990 issue of Southern Living magazine and it contains southern-style ingredients that the cake originated in the Southern United States. I tend to believe the Jamaican origin story.

What is a hummingbird cake anyway?

• Essentially, it’s a moist banana cake with cinnamon, crushed pineapple and pecans.
  
• Traditionally it is has a cream cheese frosting.
  
• Some believe in no variations as then it’s not a hummingbird cake.
  
• Can you add coconut? Yes, I did and have no regrets. I’ve always thought it did contain it anyway and feel the ingredients lend themselves to coconut but leave it out if you don’t like it or are allergic.

Why is this recipe different?

• First off, it’s vegan! No eggs or dairy in this cake. We’re using vegan yogurt with the bananas to replace the eggs. You don’t need them!
• My recipe uses a bit of allspice. Although not traditional, I feel the nutmeg-esque taste of this spice along with notes of pepper lends itself to this cake.
  
• My recipe adds some coconut. You can use unsweetened desiccated or sweetened flaked (what I used) or leave it out.
  
• I use the reverse creaming method for mixing. What this means is that the dry ingredients are mixed together first then the fat is added to coat the flour preventing it from forming gluten when the wet ingredients are added. Using this method makes it almost impossible to over-mix the batter which can often make cakes tough. This is method is great for beginning bakers and kids alike.

I’ve made this cake as a sheet cake but it could easily be made as a layer cake, Bundt cake or cupcakes! You will just need to adjust baking times for these types of pans. I have some cream cheese frosting averse folks in my family so I used a plain buttercream but my cream cheese frosting is pretty spectacular and would be great on this cake.

I hope you enjoy this delicious cake. It reminds me of spring celebrations but would be good anytime of year really. This cake freezes beautifully but it doubtful there will be any leftovers!

Vegan Hummingbird Sheet Cake

Recipe by Kreg

5.0 from 3 votes

Course: Desserts, Holiday, RecipesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

16

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

An easy and delicious vegan hummingbird cake chock full of bananas, pineapple, pecans and coconut!

Ingredients

• Dry Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup vegan cane sugar

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon allspice

• Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup plain vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup vegan plain yogurt or sour cream

• 1 cup plain vegan milk

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (approx. 2-3 decent sized browned and spotty)

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple with juice

• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted lightly and chopped

• 1 Cup coconut, sweetened flaked or desiccated

• Frosting

• Get my vegan cream cheese frosting recipe here.

• Get my vanilla buttercream frosting recipe here.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350° and grease and flour a 13×9 rectangular baking pan. I use shortening or vegan butter then about a tablespoon of flour, roll it around to coat the grease then turn over and tap over the sink to remove the excess.
• In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add all the dry ingredients and mix well to combine about a minute.
• Mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher until broken down, liquified and smooth. You can have a few small lumps. Whisk the apple cider vinegar into the vegan milk and set both aside.
• Add the vegetable oil and vegan yogurt to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. Mixture should look a bit crumbly and all the flour should be coated.
• Add the milk mixture, mashed bananas, vanilla and crushed pineapple with juice to the bowl and mix well to combine about two minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. Add the nuts and coconut if using and mix into the batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and level it out with a spoon or rubber spatula. Tap the pan a few times on the counter to remove any large air bubbles. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cake should have risen well and the center should spring back lightly when touched with your finger. Cool completely.
• Make your preferred frosting and frost cooled cake and sprinkle the top with some more nuts if desired.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Use brown spotted bananas that are well ripened. I often use ripe bananas I’ve frozen for smoothies and microwave them to room temperature and mash.
  
• Use your favorite plain vegan yogurt or sour cream. The cake is sweet enough so a sweetened yogurt will make it even sweeter.
  
• I prefer to use canned pineapple in juice not a sweetened syrup.
  
• You can lightly toast the pecans in a dry pan on the stove or in a toaster oven or regular oven. Just watch carefully as they can burn quickly. You need them to be completely cooled before using them in the cake.

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