The hummingbird cake is a pride of the south, but yet…a bit of a mystery of the origins. This sweet, moist and tropical tasting cake was first submitted under the name we know today (Hummingbird Cake) to Southern Living Magazine in 1978 by a Mrs. L.H. Wiggins. Proudly to say, she was from Greensboro, NC, (about a 15 minute drive from my birthplace!) According to Southern Living, it is still their most popular recipe published.
The history of the beloved hummingbird cake is still quite a mystery though. Some claim it showed up as a tube cake with no icing at the turn of the 20th century under different labels, such as: “Bird Cake”, “Bird of Paradise Cake” and “A Cake that Lasts” because it kept well and stayed moist. Some believe it has Jamaican origins. Whatever the origin, I’m glad this delicious cake filled with pineapple and bananas was introduced. This cake is so moist and easy to make. I can just imagine Mrs. Wiggins making this cake and sitting it on an open window sill on a summer day, and a curious and brave hummingbird zooming over to it, not able to resist the sweet smell, hoovering around for a sip of sugar, (lightbulb moment for Mrs. Wiggins on the name!💡) That’s what I will imagine for my origin story!
This cake is dedicated to my mom, on her birthday week.♥ Lover of birds, and especially hummingbirds. During the summer, on any given day, several hummingbirds can be observed in her backyard, feeding on her sugar mixture in the feeder, sometimes having to be filled everyday. Those tiny birds have quite a sweet tooth! I updated this post with a few new photos of a two-layer 9-inch hummingbird cake I made for my neighbor. My neighbor had kindly repainted a couple of metal sunflowers that were in our back yard and I thought one kind gesture deserved another, so I baked her this cake. (She loved it by the way!) I decorated it with some of my edible viola flowers that I grew from seed along with a few edible butterflies I had in my cake decorating arsenal.
NOTE: This recipe yields a 9-inch two layer cake or a three layer 8-inch cake, (adjust baking time as needed.) The cake with pineapple flowers shown is a two layer 6-inch cake. (I only needed a small cake to share with family and I made a few loaves on the side to take to some old friends on the same visit.) Traditionally, a hummingbird cake is covered completely in icing, but my family and I do not like an overly sweetened cake, and especially since this cake is already very sweet and moist, it doesn’t need much more, so if you want to cover the cake completely, double the icing recipe.
Let’s begin!
Ingredients for hummingbird cake
Ingredients:
Easy cream cheese icing ingredients:
How to make dried pineapple flowers
How to make a hummingbird cake
Cake Instructions:
How to make a simple cream cheese icing (only 3 ingredients!)
Icing Instructions:
Spread icing between layers, then remaining amount over top and sides of the cake, if desired. Like I stated before, our family just enjoys the small amount in between layers and on top, so you may have to double (or at least add one more block of cream cheese) the recipe to cover sides also. Top with dried pineapple flowers for an extra special touch.