An incredible Vegan Hummingbird Cake! It's fluffy, incredibly flavourful, super sweet and bursting with banana, pineapple and pecans then smothered in silky, luscious cream cheese frosting.
PREP TIME: 30 minutesminutes
COOK TIME: 45 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Servings: 14servings
Ingredients
3¼ cups + 2 teaspoons (410grams)all-purpose flour, (use plain flour in the UK)
1½ cups (300grams)brown sugar, dark or light brown both work well
¼ cup (60mls)pineapple juice, from the can is fine
1 tablespoon (15mls)apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon (15mls)vanilla extract
1 packed cup (195grams)drained canned pineapple pieces or crushed pineapple , in natural juice not syrup. Measure the pineapple after draining and chopping finely.
2 cups (200grams) chopped pecans, divided
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup (227grams or 8 oz)vegan cream cheese, I use Tofutti
½ cup (110 grams)vegan butter, it must be a hard variety like Earth Balance or my recipe. Soft like Flora or Becel won't work welll.
4 to 5 cups (500 to 625 gramsgrams)powdered sugar(icing sugar in the UK)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven 350 °F (175 °C) and have a shelf positioned in the middle of the oven.
Grease and line the bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans and set them aside.
To a large mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients except the pecan nuts. That's the flour, sugar, coconut, ground flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Whisk them together well.
If you haven't already, mash the banana to a puree in a medium sized bowl.
To the banana add the oil, milk, pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and chopped pineapple. Mix them together well. It will probably curdle a bit. That's fine.
Have the pecans and your cake pans ready and near you, as once the batter is mixed together you need to work fast.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir together gently with a spatula to combine. The batter will be thick. Make sure to get right into the bottom of the bowl to get all of the dry ingredients. Don't beat it or overmix the batter. Treat it gently but work quickly. The sooner you get it in the oven the better your cakes will be.
Fold in half of the chopped pecan nuts (you can eye-ball it. It doesn't have to be absolutely exact) then immediately spoon the batter evenly between the 2 cake pans.
Give the pans a little shake to level the batter out, then put them in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer, toothpick or thin knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and place the cakes still in their pans on a wire rack and allow them to cool completely. Don't remove them from the pans.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Add the vegan butter to a large bowl and beat it with an electric mixer on a medium-high speed until soft and fluffy.
Add the cream cheese and beat again until combined and smooth but don't over-beat. As soon as it's combined stop.
Now add the arrowroot powder, salt, vanilla and about 2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat on the lowest speed for about 20 seconds until the powdered sugar has stopped flying around, then add another 2 cups. Beat again on low until it's mostly combined then turn the speed up to medium-high again and beat until smooth and creamy, scraping down the edges with a spatula as needed to get any dry powdered sugar off the sides and into the mix.
Add the remaining powdered sugar to thicken as needed. Using it all makes the frosting much easier to handle, spread and pipe.
As soon as it's nice and smooth stop. It's important not to over-beat. Do not be tempted to add any more liquid to the frosting at any stage because it will become too runny. Once done, cover the bowl and put it in the fridge until needed.
Assembly
Place one cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate flat side up. Evenly spread the top with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting.
Place the other sponge cake on top, flat side down. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides.
Garnish with the remaining chopped pecans.
I recommend refrigerating the cake for at least 30 minutes before attempting to cut it to give the frosting time to firm a little and make slicing neater and easier.
NOTES
Making ahead and freezing - Make the vegan hummingbird cakes and the frosting up to 1 day in advance. Once cool, cover the cakes (still in their pans) tightly with clingwrap. Store them at room temperature.Refrigerate the frosting in an airtight container or tightly cover the bowl in cling wrap or a lid. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before you need it. You can give it a quick whisk with a handheld mixer to fluff it up a bit if you want to but I find it's usually ok as it is.Storage - As it's frosted with cream cheese frosting, it is best to keep this cake refrigerated. Cover it and store it in the fridge for 6 to 7 days. It's a cake that actually gets better with time as the flavours have a chance to mingle and develop so it's perfect for making ahead.Different pan sizes
Make in 8 x 8-inch pans - This recipe will not fit into 8 x 8 pans. They need to be 9 inches or you will need to scale the recipe down accordingly or bake the excess in a muffin pan.
Make as cupcakes - You will likely get about 24 cupcakes. Bake them at 350 °F for about 20 minutes or until a skewer, toothpick or thin knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Make as a sheet cake - The batter should just fit into a 9 x 13-inch cake pan. Be sure to line the bottom. I haven't tested cooking time but it will likely take about 50 to 55 minutes.
Make as a bundt cake - It might fit into a large bundt pan but I'm not sure. Only fill it halfway and be prepared to make some muffins with any excess!