These hummingbird cupcakes are the most soft and moist cupcakes. Hummingbird cake is a soft banana-pineapple spice cake with a cream cheese frosting — a southern classic!
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If you never had hummingbird cake, you need to give this southern classic a try! I usually sprinkle them with crushed pecans, but sometimes I like to go the extra mile and top my hummingbird cupcakes with dried pineapple flowers for a beautiful presentation.
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Hummingbird cake ingredients
This hummingbird cake recipe is much like carrot cake, without carrots, or banana muffins with cream cheese frosting. Gather these ingredients:
Grocery List for Hummingbird Cupcakes
- All-purpose flour (2 cups)
- Vegetable oil (1/2 cup)
- Eggs (2 large)
- Ripe bananas (2 medium)
- Crushed pineapple (8 oz. can)
- Chopped pecans (1/2 cup)
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Cream cheese (8 oz.)
- Butter (4 tablespoons)
- Powdered sugar (2+ cups)
The above ingredients are for the hummingbird cake and the cream cheese frosting. You’ll need extra pecans for the optional topping. If you plan to top with dried pineapple flowers, you will also need to pick up a fresh whole pineapple at the grocery store.
Hummingbird cake recipe
Moist, sweet and carrot cake-like is the first description that came to mind when I took my first bite. Minus the actual carrots, of course. Ben especially likes these, which doesn’t surprise me because carrot cake is his favorite. The first time I made these, Judah ate two of them in one setting – I was in an especially good mood that day for letting him, I guess. I even had one for breakfast!
How to make hummingbird cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with baking cups.
- In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk wet ingredients.
- Mix together wet and dry ingredients.
- Scoop batter into prepared cupcake liners.
- Bake 20 minutes.
- Let cool completely.
- Top with cream cheese frosting.
Click here for the full hummingbird cupcake recipe ingredients and instructions.
Why is hummingbird cake called hummingbird cake?
Originally called doctor bird cake, hummingbird cake originated on the island of Jamaica named after their national bird. After a push of marketing efforts from Jamaican tourism, the hummingbird cake became very popular in the southern United States. The recipe was originally published in Southern Living magazine and has won numerous cake awards.
Cream cheese frosting
These hummingbird cupcakes are topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. Easy to make homemade, although you are more than welcome to buy a store-bought tub. After slabbing on the frosting, top with crushed nuts, or pineapple flowers, or simply leave them plain.
If you choose to top these with the dried pineapple flowers, they create such a lovely presentation for any special event, especially Mother’s Day. In fact, a friend of mine is considering having these served at her wedding, which I think is a fabulous idea and very fitting with her particular theme. Alternatively, you can dress them down by eliminating the flower and instead topping with just the frosting, and maybe a sprinkling of crushed pecans. (Do you say, “pee-CAN” or “PEE-can” or “peh-CAHN”?) 🙂
How to make dried pineapple flowers
If you want to top your cupcakes with pineapple flowers, you can follow this tutorial. I recommend making the pineapple flowers the day before you make the cupcakes because they require overnight to dry — and you need to use the cupcake pans to form the flowers.
Other delicious cupcake recipes:
- Birthday Sprinkles Cupcakes
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
- Strawberry Cupcakes
- Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes
Print this hummingbird cake recipe to save for later. Made this recipe? Leave a star rating and tag me on social media @seededtable so I can see. I love hearing from you!
Hummingbird Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 medium ripe bananas , mashed (about 1 1/3 cups)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 8 oz. crushed pineapple , drained
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
For the frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk the bananas, eggs, oil, sugar, pineapple and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the pecans.
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Do not over mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until passes the toothpick test. Let cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting:
- Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.
- With the mixer on low, gradually beat in the powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high. Beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired, then top with optional toppings, such as crushed pecans or dried pineapple flowers.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published November 15, 2011 and updated May 6, 2020.
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WOW! I love the pineapple flower on top. Gorgeous to look at…. The yellow is the perfect hue for my mood right now…. might have to give these cupcakes a spin. 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous, and a very clever little tie-in to the shower! Oh, and I say peh-CAHN 🙂
These look perfect! Too beautiful to eat!!
Put me down for ‘peh-CAHN’ too! 🙂 These are SO beautiful, Nikki, and SO perfect for today! Thank you so much for doing this for me- you are such a sweet friend!
Totally gorgeous!! The pineapple flowers always brings that extra ooh-la-la touch. I’m going to admit that I say peh-CAHNs! haha.
Thank you for bringing such a sweet and stunning dessert to Amy’s shower. Hummingbird cupcakes are so delicious and the pineapple flowers really make them so special. Just like Annie, I say peh-CAHN.
The cupcakes are so beautiful! (And I say peh-CAHN)
These are absolutely STUNNING pictures! Your cupcakes turned out amazing and what a great way to celebrate a new baby girl!
Simply gorgeous, Nikki! I could eat one right now…
Oh, and it’s always peh-CAHN. 🙂
Beautiful cupcakes! I used to make hummingbird cake every week at a cafe where I worked during college. And the pineapple flowers are stunning – will check Annie’s blog for the instructions.
Absolutely breathtaking! Can’t wait to taste this one of these days when you fix it for me, Nikki!
Those pineapple flowers are stunning! They ALMOST make the cupcakes look too pretty to eat. But they’re cupcakes…of course they have to be eaten 🙂
Congrats to Amy!
Beautiful job!
These are so perfect for a baby shower, and the pineapple flowers you made look gorgeous! I say peh-CAHN, but a lot of people here in Virginia say it the other way.
these are absolutely beautiful!
These are beautiful cupcakes ~ the pineapple flowers are a brilliant idea and make an outstanding presentation for such a special occassion.
Thanks, Jackie. It’s crazy how easy it is to make the flowers, too! 🙂
I love the flowers, and humming bird cake is something I have always wanted to bake too, but some how got posponed…must bake it soon, yours looks so lovely!
Your recipe isn’t showing up for me anymore Do you know what the problem could be?
Sorry about that Chelsea! When I recently moved my site to a new template, some of my recipes disappeared. Thank you for letting me know about this one. I’ve inserted it back so you should see it now. 🙂