A superb confluence of pineapple, banana and pecan, these individual vegan hummingbird cakes are quite possibly one of the most delicious hand-held bites of southern style confectionary that you’ll ever have the pleasure of devouring. And when topped with a beautiful robin’s egg blue swirl of creamy pineapple frosting, which is just sweet enough to compliment the cake itself without being overwhelming, these vegan hummingbird cupcakes truly shine for what they are: an amazingly eatable expression of a classic cake from the south, done vegan!

Table Of Contents

What's In a Vegan Hummingbird Cake?
The Tricky Nature of Plant-Based Frostings
Fancy another cupcake recipe?
Recipe Remastered
Piping Bag Hacks
A Vegan Hummingbird Cake Recipe
Vegan Hummingbird Cupcakes with Pineapple Frosting
- For the Pineapple Frosting

“When you look at a cupcake, you’ve got to smile.”

– Anne Byrn

What’s In a Vegan Hummingbird Cake?

– Ripe Banana

– Crushed Pineapple

– Ground Pecan

These three ingredients are the holy trifecta of a vegan hummingbird cake, and they really make these delicious cupcakes what they are. The loss of any one of them would alter and change the identity of the cupcake itself.

Also unique to this vegan hummingbird cake recipe is the inclusion of gluten-free flour, which bakes really well alongside all the wet denseness of the banana and pineapple, as well as the split fats of olive oil and vegan butter.

But unlike the trio above, substituting the gluten-free flour mix with regular all-purpose flour, or using one fat instead of two, is not going to alter the outcome of this delectable dessert drastically.

“Cupcakes are sweet and even sweeter when shared.”

– Marie Williams Johnstone

The Tricky Nature of Plant-Based Frostings

Creating a well-balanced frosting takes precision and patience, and it’s what you’re going to need whenever you prepare a frosting for piping or decorating.

Try as I might, sometimes there is no set recipe for a vegan frosting. Sometimes it comes out more runny, sometimes more thick. Sometimes it depends on the temperature of the room you’re in, and sometimes the quality of your ingredients at the time.

Really, what I mean to say is that a good, pipe-able frosting for these vegan hummingbird cakes is going to be all about an initial sets of adjustment, and then more micro-adjustments, to get the perfect texture and flavor for decorating and eating.

You can see in the recipe itself that the quantities for each ingredient are loose, because it’s an estimate, not an exactitude. Add the minimal amount for each ingredient first, and then slowly add more of one thing versus another.

For example, if the frosting is too wet, and would surely drip out of the piping bag without any prompting, then add more powdered sugar. If the frosting is too sweet, add more lemon juice. If the frosting is too thick, as in like freshly laid sidewalk cement, add a dash more pineapple juice.

The ideal texture for frosting is one where, when agitated, it holds a peak and doesn’t deflate back into an amorphous blob. If it holds a peak when prodded, then you know it’ll hold the shape it’ll create when pushed through the aperture at the end of your piping bag.

“…My method of eating a cupcake was quite straight forward step one: gobble it down one large bite at a time until there’s nothing left. That’s it.”

– Meg Donohue

Fancy another cupcake recipe?

– Lemon Cupcakes with Vegan Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

– The *BEST* Black Bottom Cupcakes

– Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Candied Pepitas

“A balanced diet is to keep a cupcake in each hand.”

– Anonymous

Recipe Remastered

One of my absolute favorite parts about cooking and baking plant-based food things is that I have the amazing opportunity to take tried, test, and true recipes and reinvent them. Personally, I feel that revisiting and remixing retro recipes is one of the greatest and most sincere compliments a person can give to the creator of the original.

In the case of this vegan hummingbird cake recipe, it originates from my mom’s friend, Becky, who is rather famous in the friend circle for concocting amazingly tasty baked goods. So I knew going into this that the recipe that I wanted to “veganize” really required little to no adjustments of the ratios or cooking temperature.

Rather than make a round or sheet cake, as is the form of the original hummingbird cake, I instead opted to make cupcakes, which not only take less time to bake but they also are more fun to decorate (in my opinion).

Instead of eggs, I added ground golden flaxseed flaxseed, which congeals into a hearty and thick mixture and tends to bind everything together much like an egg would.

I also utilized brown sugar, rather than white, because I like the malt-like flavor of it. The only downside to brown sugar over white is that it tends to be more moist, and can make your bake softer. However, as it relates to this vegan hummingbird cake recipe, the cupcakes were perfectly fluffy and moist, without being soggy (sorry for saying the word moist slightly more than was necessary).

For more delicious vegan cupcake recipes, some “veganized” and some not, then check out my Vegan Cakes archive.

“Any cupcake consumed before 9AM is, technically, a muffin.”

– Brian P. Cleary

Piping Bag Hacks

I’m not a master of frosting decoration, so please take anything that I say on the matter with a grain of salt (not sure why that expression means what it means).

The most quintessential part of piping a frosting, in this vegan hummingbird cake recipe or any other cupcake recipe, is obviously the frosting itself.

As a stated in the above paragraphs, adjusting until you have the right consistency for the piping bag is the most important thing. Beyond that, there are a couple other tips and tricks that I’ll relay to you, so that if you’re new to piping frosting it won’t be such a mystery.

1. Roll the piping bag down about halfway before you load the frosting into it. Not doing this means that frosting gets stuck at the top of the bag, which can often go un-piped since it’s too far up.

2. Twist the top of the piping bag to compact the frosting towards the nozzle (choosing a medium-sized, serrated nozzle is good for cupcake design), and then apply even pressure near the posterior (the back) of the bag, piping evenly and consistently without interrupting the flow of frosting until your design (swirl, rosettes, ect.) is finished.

3. Have fun and (despite the solemnity with which I write these tips and tricks) don’t take it too seriously.

4. Throughly wash the piping bag afterwards with soap and water, and then drape it over a large jar (like a mason jar – I’m not a hipster, I swear), so that it can dry completely before storing.

Follow these steps, and this vegan hummingbird cake should be easy (and fun) to decorate.

A Vegan Hummingbird Cake Recipe

I really loved making this vegan hummingbird cake recipe, and I am excited to share it with you all. They are the perfect festive cupcake to make for someone’s birthday, but also just a delicious cake to make whenever you’re looking to indulge a sweet tooth.

On that note, you can just make the cupcakes themselves, without the frosting, and you’ll find that they are almost like a really delicious and light banana bread muffin.

So fire up your ovens, mash up those ever ripening bananas, and roll down those piping bags, because, if you’re a dessert lover with a penchant for classic recipes, then you’re going to want to give this exceptional vegan hummingbird cake recipe a try!