Hummingbird carrot cake is like four delicious cakes rolled into one! Just imagine biting into a super-moist and fluffy layer cake with all the best ingredients, topped with a delectably smooth cream cheese frosting, pecans, and candied carrot curls.
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While most Hummingbird carrot cake recipes have just two ingredients (carrots and bananas OR carrots and coconut), my recipe has four! For the moistest, tastiest cake, my recipe includes carrots, bananas, coconut, and pineapple.
🤔 What is a hummingbird cake?
The original hummingbird cake is a banana-pineapple spice cake with its origins in Jamaica (named after its national bird, the scissor-tailed hummingbird), and is also known as Doctor bird cake. It has also been a popular dessert in the US since the late 1970’s, when a recipe by L.H. Wiggins was featured in Southern Living Magazine.
My recipe has a few more main ingredients than the original, with the addition of carrots and coconut.
🧾 Ingredients
Cake batter
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Ripe bananas
- Pineapple
- Carrots
- Sweetened, shredded coconut flakes
Cream cheese frosting
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Confectioners sugar (aka powdered sugar, 10x sugar, or icing sugar)
Decoration
- Pecans
- Candied carrot curls (see recipe below)
See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.
🥣 Mixing the cake batter
Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease and parchment line two round 8” x 2” cake pans.
In a bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
Using a stand mixer or electric handheld mixer, blend together olive oil, eggs, and vanilla. Then, add both sugars and mix until smooth.
Turn off the mixer and add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet, all at once. Mix everything together just until combined (don’t overmix, or the cake may become too dense).
Finally, by hand, fold in bananas, pineapple, carrots, and coconut.
Evenly distribute the batter between two baking pans (or if you only have one pan, like me, bake one at a time).
⏲️ Baking
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Waiting...patiently waiting and watching…
Let cool on the counter. More patiently waiting…
🍰 Cream cheese frosting recipe
Using a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
Then, add confectioners sugar and mix until smooth.
🍬 Candied carrot curls
Using a vegetable peeler, make long, wide strips of carrot.
Preheat oven to 225℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add 1 cup water and 1 cup granulated sugar to a pot and bring to a boil. Lower the temperature slightly, add carrots, and simmer for 15 minutes. Then, drain carrots from the pot and let cool for about 5 minutes.
Next, place carrots on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
While still warm, wrap carrots around the handle of a wooden spoon, then let them cool for about 30 minutes.
Tip: Keep an eye on the carrot curls as they’re cooling. I found that a few of them kept wanting to uncurl a bit, so as they cooled, I would nudge them back into a curled shape.
⭐ Decorating
Once the baked cakes have cooled, apply a thick layer of cream cheese frosting on top of one layer, then add the second layer on top, and apply a crumb coat of frosting to the entire outside of the cake.
Note: A crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting applied to a cake, to catch all those little crumbs that would otherwise get mixed up in your main frosting layer.
After applying the crumb coat, place the cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes before adding the final layer of frosting.
Finally, add cream cheese frosting over the entire cake and decorate with pecans and candied carrot curls. Enjoy!
Love desserts? Check out a few more of our delicious recipes now!
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- Easy Homemade Banana Pudding
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- Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
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- Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Did you make this Hummingbird Carrot Cake? Let us know in the comments below!
📝 Recipe
Hummingbird Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Hummingbird Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ cups ripe bananas, mashed (about 3)
- 1 cup pineapple, pureed (about a 20-oz can, drained)
- 3 cups carrots, shredded
- 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut flakes
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 24 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners sugar (aka powdered sugar, 10x sugar, or icing sugar)
Hummingbird Cake Decoration
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- Candied carrot curls (see recipe below)
Instructions
Hummingbird Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Grease and parchment line two round 8” x 2” cake pans.
- In a bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
- Using a stand mixer or electric handheld mixer, blend together olive oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- Then, add both sugars and mix until smooth.
- Turn off the mixer and add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet, all at once. Mix everything together just until combined (don’t overmix, or the cake may become too dense).
- Finally, by hand, fold in bananas, pineapple, carrots, and coconut.
- Evenly distribute the batter between two baking pans.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool on the counter.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
- Then, add confectioners sugar and mix until smooth.
Candied Carrot Curls
- Using a vegetable peeler, make long, wide strips of carrot.
- Preheat oven to 225℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add 1 cup water and 1 cup granulated sugar to a pot and bring to a boil.
- Lower the temperature slightly, add carrots, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Then, drain carrots from the pot and let cool for about 5 minutes.
- Next, place carrots on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
- While still warm, wrap carrots around the handle of a wooden spoon, then let them cool for about 30 minutes.
Decorating Hummingbird Carrot Cake
- Once the baked cakes have cooled, apply a thick layer of cream cheese frosting on top of one layer, then add the second layer on top, and apply a crumb coat of frosting to the entire outside of the cake.
- After applying the crumb coat, place the cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes before adding the final layer of frosting.
- Finally, add cream cheese frosting over the entire cake and decorate with pecans and candied carrot curls. Enjoy!
Notes
- Crumb coat: A crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting applied to a cake, to catch all those little crumbs that would otherwise get mixed up in your main frosting layer. After applying the crumb coat, place the cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes before adding the final layer of frosting.
- Forming the carrot curls: Keep an eye on the carrot curls as they’re cooling. I found that a few of them kept wanting to uncurl a bit, so as they cooled, I would nudge them back into a curled shape.
- Suggestion: If you enjoy this, you're gonna love our berry chantilly cake!
Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Rusty ol Cat Lady
I got my daughter and 2 young men to help me make this for my birthday. I wanted to teach them how to make and decorate a cake. None of them ever had before. We found it time consuming, but more than worth it. I've had and made many types of from scratch cakes, but this was the best cake I’ve ever had and I’m older than dirt. My Daughter insisted on decorating it with 3 colors of frosting flowers, so we made the frosting a little thicker, made 3 bags of each color, chilled the loaded the bags and she piped crude drop flowers all over the top + a drop flower border at the bottom. She could only use each bag a short time + then had to rechill it. It took time a lot more time than any decorator frosting would have and was a bit more crude, but it was really beautiful and absolutely delicious. Everyone loved it and are asking when we can make it again. Next time we’ll try the carrot curls.
maplewoodroad
Hi Cat Lady! OMG, this is possibly the best story I've heard yet! I'm so thrilled that you all got to share in such a great experience in making this cake. And yes, you're right, it is time consuming, but so very worth it. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
Sue
I haven’t made as yet but looking at the ingredients it sounds perfect
My question…
I wanted to use cupcakes would it work
Thank you
Sue
maplewoodroad
Hi Sue! I imagine you certainly could make cupcakes, just keep in mind that you may need to adjust the baking temperature and time. 🙂
MARCELLA D CERVANTES
Can the recipe as written be baked in a 9x13" dish? easier to share in the office
maplewoodroad
Hi Marcella! While I haven't tried this myself, I don't see why it wouldn't work. The only thing to keep in mind is that because it will be much thinner, the baking time may be much shorter, so check on it periodically with the toothpick test. 🙂
RACHEL
Can I use vegetable oil instead of olive oil?
maplewoodroad
Of course! 🙂
Brenda S.
This cake looks really yummy. The cream cheese frosting is very tempting. Cinnamon and nutmeg give a unique flavour to anything they are added to. I want to eat this!
maplewoodroad
Thanks! Enjoy! 🙂
Michael R.
Last week for my birthday I was debating between a hummingbird or a carrot cake. Wish I had known about this third option!
maplewoodroad
So extend your birthday celebration another week and enjoy this one too! 🙂
Sara C.
I am drooling .. would love a slice right about now!
maplewoodroad
Haha! Thanks! Enjoy! 🙂
Betty
This looks absolutely lovely!
maplewoodroad
Thank you! 🙂
Nathan
How many hummingbirds did you need?
maplewoodroad
OMG! Lol! 🙂
Kalin
This sounds delicious! I love the trick of the curled carrots -- I will be trying that soon!
maplewoodroad
Thanks so much! Enjoy! 🙂