Hummingbird Cake with Cake Mix
Making hummingbird cake with cake mix is easy, quick, and delicious. By using cake mix to make hummingbird cake, you can make your own version of a Southern layer cake that you may have never heard of. If you like carrot cake, be sure to give this recipe for hummingbird cake with cake mix a try.
Hummingbird Cake History
Also known as Dr. Bird Cake, hummingbird cake is a pineapple and banana spice cake of Jamaican origin. In the 1960’s the recipe was invented by a Jamaican airline and then included in press kits sent to the United States: the idea was that recipes for a tropical, fruity cake would entice people to visit Jamaica. In 1969 The Charlotte Observer published a recipe for “Doctor Bird Cake,” a bundt cake made in a tube pan and lacking icing. However, the first modern recipe for hummingbird cake was submitted to Southern Living in 1979 by Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Making Hummingbird Cake with Cake Mix
After reviewing several recipes, I knew that hummingbird cake was basically a pineapple and banana spice cake. My first experience with a Southern layer cake was Strawberry Cake, so I decided to make hummingbird cake with cake mix. The cake mix called for 1 and 1/4 cups of liquid, so I figured I could use some combination of mashed bananas and crushed pineapple to reach 1 and 1/4 cups of mashed fruit. Even though my version of hummingbird cake with cake mix uses more banana than pineapple, you can adjust as you like: I would recommend 3/4 cup of mashed banana and 3/4 cup of crushed pineapple if you have never made hummingbird cake with cake mix before.
Although many hummingbird cake recipes call for not only cinnamon but nutmeg and other spices, I personally prefer less spice in my cakes; so, I decided to use only 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for my hummingbird cake with cake mix and no other spices.
Since I always have health in mind, I decreased the oil to 1/4 cup even though the cake mix called for more. Also, in order to not only add flavor but also to keep my hummingbird cake with cake mix moist, I added a small box of instant orange gelatin.
Even though recipes for hummingbird cake with no nuts or coconut exist, I chose to add both pecans and coconut when making hummingbird cake using cake mix.
I finished off my hummingbird cake from cake mix with my low(er) fat cream cheese frosting.
By making hummingbird cake with cake mix, you can follow a quick and easy recipe to make a fruity, tropical, and exotic hummingbird cake.
Sources:
https://www.southernliving.com/desserts/cakes/hummingbird-cake-history
https://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/history-hummingbird-cake/
For a more detailed Hummingbird Cake with Cake Mix recipe, take a look at my Youtube Video:
Hummingbird Cake with Cake Mix
Notes
1. If you prefer more spice, you could add 1/4 teaspoon or nutmeg and / or ginger; however, I would not add more than 1 teaspoon of cinnamon: it would probably overpower the fruit.
2. As previously stated, you can adjust the amount of bananas vs. pineapple to taste; however, I would use at least 1/2 cup of each if you want to have the flavor of both fruits prominent in the cake.
3. Although I used coconut extract, you could also use vanilla, lemon, or orange: my suggestion is to use a fruit extract such as lemon or orange since hummingbird cake is supposed to showcase fruit.
4. You could use a different flavor or gelatin, or perhaps an instant pudding, as well: I would recommend lemon or coconut. Although banana would be a possibility, some people complain that banana-flavored things taste "artificial."
Ingredients
- Cake Layers:
- 1 16.25 oz box of white cake mix
- 1 3 oz box of instant orange gelatin
- 2-3 small, ripe bananas
- 1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple*
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans (45 grams)
- 1/3 cup sweetened coconut (30 grams)
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
- 3 large eggs (at room temperature)
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 oz. block of cream cheese
- 3.5 cups (16 oz, or 1 pound box) of powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Directions for making hummingbird cake with cake mix:
- Roasting the bananas: If your bananas are not fully ripe, place them (unpeeled) on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast at 350 Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, flip over, and then roast for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and then let the bananas cool so that you can peel them later. Lower oven to 325.
- Measuring fruit: Peel desires number of bananas over a bowl, and then mash the bananas in a liquid measuring cup. You need a total of 1 and 1/4 cup of mashed fruit, so add however much crushed pineapple you need after the bananas in order to research the required amount of fruit. I recommend using 3/4 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 small bananas) along with 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple.
- Doctoring Cake Mix: Pour cake mix along with other ingredients from the "Hummingbird Cake with Cake Mix Layers" list into a large bowl and mix. The order in which you add the ingredients does not matter. Although the box cake mix directions will likely say to beat the batter with an electric mixer for a few minutes, mixing by hand is fine.
- Pour the batter into prepared cake pans, and bake at 325 for 28 minutes.
- While the cake layers are cooling, prepare my low(er)-fat cream cheese frosting recipe.
- Assemble the cake: I recommend using about 1/3 to 1/2 of the frosting between the two layers, reserving the rest for the top and sides.
