Healthy Hummingbird Cake
An almond flour cake with ripe banana and crushed pineapple, this reminds me of a tropical version of carrot cake. This cake is studded with toasted pecans and finished with a rich cream cheese frosting. It's the perfect spring and summer cake!
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 533kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Hummingbird Cake
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 4 eggs (pastured, grass-fed)
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted (or avocado oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 bananas ripe
- 16 ounce crushed pineapple in juice drained, *see notes for draining juice
- 1/2 cup pecans toasted and chopped (plus more to decorate, optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 packages cream cheese
- 1/2 cup butter (pastured, grass-fed)
- 1 cup powdered monk fruit sweetener or organic powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º F.
- Grease 2 8-inch cake pans with avocado or coconut oil, and cut out a parchment circle to place in the bottom of the pan. Set pans aside.
- Into a large bowl, add almond flour, sea salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Stir to combine.
- Into a stand mixer bowl, add eggs. Whisk eggs for 2-3 minutes until foamy.
- Into the eggs, add the oil, honey, vanilla, bananas, and drained pineapple. Stir the wet ingredients together.
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients, and use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture together.
- Add the chopped pecans, and fold into the batter.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
- Bake the cakes for 35 minutes, or until lightly browned on the top and set in the center.
- Allow the cakes to cool at least 2 hours prior to removing from the cake pans to frost.
- Frost cakes with cream cheese frosting and decorate with pecans. See tutorial in blog post for frosting a layer cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the softened cream cheese and butter into a stand mixer, and beat for about 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add in the powdered monk fruit sweetener and vanilla, and continue to beat until mixed well.
Video
Notes
Storing and Serving
This cake stores well and can be made up to a week ahead of time.
After the cream cheese frosting has set and is dry to touch, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
To Freeze: Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then cover in several layers of foil, and freeze the cake (frosted) for up to 3 months. Allow the cake to thaw for 1 day in the refrigerator to serve.
Variations
Swaps: The pineapple adds a lot of moisture to this cake, so don't omit with pineapple without making a substitution. Swap pineapple for 1 cup of shredded carrot or zucchini (no need to squeeze out moisture). Either option will keep the moisture in the cake!
Leave out the Pecans: It's okay to omit the pecans, or to swap them with chopped walnuts.
Hummingbird Cake with Coconut: Add 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to the batter along with the pecans. You can also toast coconut and use it to decorate the cake along with the pecans.
Nutrition
Calories: 533kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 486mg | Potassium: 217mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 856IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 2mg