Coconut Hummingbird Cake — 🍌🍍🥥 A super SOFT and moist cake with bananas, pineapple, coconut, cream cheese frosting, and pecans!! Makes a huge cake that’ll feed a crowd! If you like banana bread, you will LOVE this cake! Put this EASY retro gem on your baking list!!
Table of Contents
What Is Hummingbird Cake?
The first recorded hummingbird cake recipe was published in 1978 by Southern Living magazine and came from North Carolina. It’s a soft, banana and pineapple-laden cake with a healthy dose of tangy cream cheese frosting and a sprinkling of pecan halves.
This is an extremely moist cake thanks to the can of crushed pineapple with the juice included and from four ripe bananas. If you like banana bread, you will love this coconut and pineapple hummingbird cake.
Rather than using pecans in the cake batter like most recipes call for, I used sweetened shredded coconut. This may not be traditional, but it sure was tasty.
I sprinkled pecans on top of the cake for a bit of crunch, but not too much. I really wanted the actual cake to be super soft, sans nuts, and that’s what I got.
Ingredients in Hummingbird Cake
To make this hummingbird coconut cake recipe, you’ll need:
- Ripe bananas
- Crushed pineapple
- Sweetened shredded coconut
- Eggs
- Vegetable oil
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
And to make the cream cheese frosting, you’ll need:
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Toasted chopped pecans (for topping)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Hummingbird Cake with Coconut
This coconut hummingbird bundt cake is so simple to prepare! Here are the basic steps:
- Spray a 14-cup bundt pan with cooking spray, then dust with flour.
- Then, beat the bananas until mashed and whisk in the crushed pineapple with juice, coconut, eggs, oil, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Turn the batter into your prepared pan and bake until done (about an hour; until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean).
- Allow the hummingbird cake to cool completely before topping with cream cheese frosting.
Cake FAQs
The only option I have personally tested in the 12-cup Bundt + 8×4-inch loaf so cannot speak for the other options firsthand, but am making educated guesses with regard to the volume of batter, various pan options, and approximate baking times; your mileage may vary.
There was so much cake batter that it did not all fit in my 12-cup Bundt pan and after filling it to between 2/3 and 3/4-full, I filled an 8×4-inch loaf pan to the same height. Both the Bundt and the loaf took 49 minutes to bake.
If you have a 14-cup Bundt pan, the batter may all likely fit. Additionally, you can make three 9-inch layer cakes and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Or you could make two 9×5-inch loaves, although this is my least favorite option because the batter is so heavy and wet and I worry about the loaves cooking through completely in the center before the top and sides are overly browned. But you could tent the pan about 45 minutes into baking and then bake until done. I am guessing at least 60-70 minutes.
Your bananas don’t have to be borderline black, just nicely ripened and soft.
If you want to use pecans in the cake like most recipes call for, I would use 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped and toasted pecans (350F for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until fragrant), and add them in the recipe when you would have added the coconut. And omit the coconut or use only 1/2 cup.
If you’re baking this for people who don’t like nuts or are allergic to nuts, you can successfully leave them out.
I used 1 cup of coconut and in most cases this could dominate the flavor profile but because of all the bananas and the pineapple, the coconut wasn’t too noticeable. It did complement the overall flavor and we really enjoyed it.
If you also want to leave out the coconut, that’s fine too. You may need to add an additional 1/2 cup flour, but I am not sure since I haven’t tested that. If the batter is at all thin, I would add the extra flour because it should be a dense batter.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
In the fridge: Frosted cake will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
At room temp: Unfrosted cake/loaves will keep airtight at room temp for up to 5 days.
In the freezer: Unfrosted cakes/loaves will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.
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Coconut Hummingbird Cake
Ingredients
Hummingbird Cake
- 4 medium ripe bananas, about 2 cups mashed bananas
- one 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, with juice
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, loosely packed to measure
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 to 2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ to ⅓ cup toasted chopped pecans, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- Make the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 14-cup Bundt pan very well with floured cooking spray; or grease and flour the pan. See Note 1 below about pan options and considerations. Unless you have a huge 14-cup Bundt pan, you will likely need to bake some of the additional batter in a loaf pan or make three 9-inch round cakes. Read the Note in detail.
- To a very large bowl or to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the bananas and beat them with a handheld electric mixer or with the paddle attachment until they’re mashed.
- Add the pineapple with juice, coconut, eggs, oil, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, and beat on medium-high speed to incorporate.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and beat until just combined. Turn batter out in prepared pan(s), don’t fill any pan more than 2/3 to 3/4-full, and bake until done.
- Baking Time Approximations: About 1 hour for a 14-cup Bundt, about 46 to 50 minutes for a 12-cup Bundt + one 8×4-inch loaf (this was what I did and baked both for 49 minutes), about 25 to 30 minutes for three 9-inch round cakes, and about 60-70 minutes for two 9×5-inch loaf pans. Baking times will obviously vary based on your pan setup.
- Allow cakes/loafs to cool in pans for about 20 minutes before turning out and allowing them to cool fulling on a wire rack or cake stand. Don’t add the frosting until completely cooled.
- Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
- To a large bowl or to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese, butter, and beat together on high speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, salt, and beat to combine. Based on the desired consistency of the frosting, add additional confectioners’ sugar, if necessary.
- Add frosting to the top perimeter of the cake, or as desired. If you have additional frosting (likely), it will keep airtight in the fridge for many weeks for another baking project.
- Optionally garnish with pecans before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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great
great
It’s an Amazing Cake.
It’s an Amazing Cake.
Thank you!
Trying really hard not to be too crabby here. Recently on my tablet/phone your posts have had a new menu bar across the top that shows your other recipes. I’m guessing we can pick and watch/see those recipes. Under that is a video running of You making another recipe. I used to be able to close that but the option to close is now covered by the other menu bar and I haven’t been able to close Any of them in any way. The real problem I have with all of this is the narrow little window it leaves of your current post rendering it practically unreadable. Can you suggest any way I can clear some of this from my screen so I can read your current posts?
The film strip at the top that you’re referring to is something new that I’m trying out. But I’m thinking it will be permanent because most people like the suggestions for extra recipes. I’m sorry that you find it difficult to read the text. Maybe try reading on a larger device. I don’t have an issue on my phone but sorry you do.
This really looks delicious and reminds me of summer. I love denser cakes like this (and carrot cake) with cream cheese frosting. I am a coconut lover so that sounds perfect with the banana and pineapple!
This cake was sooooo good! It’s everything you just said and we adored it!