A Recipe for Tropical Vegan Hummingbird Cake

This recipe for vegan hummingbird cake (Rainbow Nourishments) is super-simple to make with affordable everyday ingredients, yet good enough for a picnic or party, and tastes of tropical paradise!

Keep fruit pips & seeds (and nuts) away from animal friends. Before baking, read up on food safety for people & pets.

Hummingbird cake is kind of like banana cake, but with the addition of pineapple and toasted pecans, along with brown sugar and warm cinnamon spices.

Try buying sea-freighted bananas from farm shops. This way you can still buy organic, without them being wrapped in plastic (like most organic bananas in supermarkets). If you have to buy in plastic, you can now recycle the packaging at supermarket bag bins.

The original hummingbird cake came from Jamaica in the late 1960s. There, it was known as “Doctor Bird Cake,” named for Jamaica’s national bird, the Red-billed Streamertail hummingbird.

The cake got its tropical flavour from ripe bananas and pineapple, both plentiful on the island. Early recipes didn’t call for eggs or dairy, but cooks often used whatever ingredients they had on hand.

The cake popped up in the United States in 1978 when Southern Living magazine published it. L.H. Wiggins sent the recipe in, and it became an instant hit across the South.

The classic version included eggs, oil, sugar, bananas, pineapple, pecans, and cream cheese frosting. This moist, rich dessert fit right in with the comfort food culture of the region.

How to Chop a Fresh Pineapple

Use a sharp chef’s knife to slice off at least 1/2 inch on top and bottom. Then stand it upright and use the knife to slowly skim off the skin, using a paring knife to remove any ‘eyes’. Slice into rings, using a knife or cookie cutter to remove the core inside each ring.