Vegan Hummingbird Cake

by Jill Dalton

Vegan Hummingbird Cake

Jill Dalton
The world is just a better place when there is cake in it and this Hummingbird cake is going to sing straight to your heart. Zero oil, zero refined sugars AND gluten free! This cake is so delicious that it will even impress your non-vegan friends and family. The balance between the sweetness of the pineapple and bananas, the tartness of the creamy frosting and the rich toasted flavor of the walnuts will make this your “go to” cake for any special occasion.
5 from 8 votes
Servings 12 people
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 40 minutes
Total 55 minutes

Our Sponsors

Ingredients
 
 

Cake

Frosting

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Mix the flax meal and water together in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Mix together the oat flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
  • Blend the dates, almond milk and vanilla in the blender until smooth.
  • Stir the blended mixture into the dry ingredients.
  • Fold in the flax egg, mashed bananas and pineapple.
  • Fold in 1 1/2 cups of the walnuts.
  • Divide mixture between 3 parchment lined cake pans (9 inch)
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes.
  • Let cool
  • Add all frosting ingredients except for the 2 Tbsp of water to blender and blend until smooth.
  • Add remaining water if necessary while blending frosting.
  • Place cake on a cake tray or plate.
  • Smooth on about 1/2 cup of the frosting onto the top of that cake.
  • Add second cake to the top of that.
  • Smooth on about 1/2 cup of frosting onto the top of that cake.
  • Add third cake and use remaining frosting to frost entire top and sides.
  • Sprinkle remaining walnuts on top of cake.
  • Keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Love this FREE recipe? Help us make more!Become a Supporting Member today!

Nutrition info

Calories: 495kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 12gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 12gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gSodium: 249mgPotassium: 711mgFiber: 9gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 53IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 118mgIron: 4mg

You may also like

52 comments

Janet DeMaio June 20, 2020 - 11:55 am

This looks delicious! Is it possible to make in one type of pan, either a Bundt or 9×13, rather than 3 round ones? If so how long would it bake for? I can’t wait to make this!!

Reply
Janet DeMaio June 22, 2020 - 10:36 am

I made these into cupcakes…halved the recipe which gave me 12! I cooked them for 28 minutes but I think I’ll give them another 5 next time…a bit wet inside. They were delicious!!

Reply
Desiree Lopez June 20, 2020 - 12:22 pm

I love how you write out the directions, it’s so easy to understand

Reply
Myra June 20, 2020 - 8:22 pm

I enjoy your videos except for the background piano music…would you consider loosing it? It’s really not necessary and i feel is distracting from your content in my opinion.

Reply
Hayley May 9, 2022 - 12:32 am

I like the music 🙂 I guess we’re all different

Reply
Stefanos S. June 20, 2020 - 8:24 pm

This is both easy to make and pleasing to the eye. From my baking experience, I can tell is going to be delicious too!
I LOVE OATS! And the combination of cinnamon, nuts and fruits, you managed to turn an afternoon treat into practically, breakfast! It makes you watch the alarm until it goes off, so you can run into the kitchen. My only concern is that tropical fruit have the highest concentration of sugar and if you add the 2 cups of dates, you have a ticking bomb in your hands (especially for diabetics). Have you thought of using stevia instead? Thanx, anyway.

Reply
Jill Dalton June 22, 2020 - 8:54 am

I don’t have much experience with stevia, sorry

Reply
Christina June 26, 2020 - 5:26 pm

How much stevia would you use instead of the dates?

Reply
Jill Dalton June 27, 2020 - 7:14 pm

I don’t have any experience with stevia so I’m not sure, sorry.

Reply
Laura Cooper August 5, 2020 - 9:18 pm

@Stefanos S, My experience with dates in other recipes is it’s not usually necessary to use so many. I’ll try to use less. Can’t wait to make it. Looks amazing!

Reply
Natalia M June 21, 2020 - 8:42 am

Wow, can’t wait to try this cake! One question, do you think I could sub bananas with applesauce?

Reply
Jill Dalton June 22, 2020 - 8:53 am

I haven’t tried it but I think it would work.

Reply
Janet June 21, 2020 - 1:33 pm

The recipe doesn’t say when to add the flax eggs in…

Reply
Jill Dalton June 22, 2020 - 8:50 am

You add it when you add the banana mixture.

Reply
Jill Dalton June 22, 2020 - 8:53 am

Thank you for letting me know Janet. Fixed it. You add the flax eggs when you mix in the banana mixture.

Reply
Paula Wallace June 23, 2020 - 12:09 am

Do you have to use 3 pans or could you do it in just one or maybe two???

Reply
Eileen Cosgrove June 24, 2020 - 11:09 am

I would like to take this on vacation. How long does it last?

Reply
Jill Dalton June 25, 2020 - 2:10 pm

It is good on the countertop for 2-3 days but up to a week or a little more in the fridge, in an airtight container.

Reply
Eileen Cosgrove June 26, 2020 - 1:56 pm

Thanks!

Reply
Starcradle June 24, 2020 - 1:04 pm

Great recipe, Jill!

Alas, I do not have oats at the moment. Would regular flour work well as a substitute?

Reply
Jill Dalton June 25, 2020 - 2:08 pm

I haven’t made this recipe with regular flour so I’m not sure, sorry

Reply
Andrea Zeiner June 26, 2020 - 10:27 am

I also cut the recipe in half and made 12 cupcakes. Very good–

Reply
Cheryl Rogers June 28, 2020 - 5:21 pm

I can hardly wait to try this, Jill. Thanks for a great video (I love the background music) and easy to follow recipe.

Reply
Rose June 30, 2020 - 10:23 am

I found you today some how, I’m not sure how.lol
I can’t wait to tell my husband about your program.thank you for doing this for me and everybody else.

Reply
Diana Clarke July 3, 2020 - 12:12 pm

Just wondering if you would drain the pineapple first or use the juice. Thanks.

Reply
Jill Dalton July 4, 2020 - 9:35 am

Use the juice too.

Reply
Narissa July 18, 2020 - 3:54 pm

Saw someone made this on reddit and cannot wait to try. Thanks for making cake my family can eat and sharing the recipe 😍

Reply
sbfinkelstein September 20, 2020 - 3:16 am

Any suggestions for alternative frosting? Cashew allergy here.

Reply
Jill Dalton September 21, 2020 - 4:34 pm

You could use almonds instead

Reply
Erika July 7, 2023 - 1:45 pm

Wow, I am excited to learn I can use almonds for the icing too. (I have a bunch to use up.) Is the process the same as cashews?

Reply
Jill Dalton July 8, 2023 - 2:42 pm

Yes

Reply
Suzanne September 27, 2020 - 7:36 pm

Hey Jill I am assuming you drain the cashews before blending. Please confirm. Made the cake tonight and will frost tomorrow for my birthday!

Reply
Jill Dalton September 28, 2020 - 5:05 pm

Yes, drain the cashews

Reply
Paul Miller October 3, 2020 - 10:42 am

I love your show and I love the background music, please do not change a thing

Reply
Severin October 14, 2020 - 8:53 am

Loved it! It tastes really good, but is also very satiating. Everyone was full after 1-2 pieces. That’s the WFPB magic 🙂 The difference to conventional cakes is really noticeable in terms of satiety.
The batter is quite dense, but also moist despite the lack of oil, so that’s nice.
The only bad thing was that the cashew frosting turned yellow over night (I assume because of the lemon; maybe I used too much), so it didn’t look as nice the next morning. It didn’t affect the taste though.

Reply
Anna December 13, 2020 - 1:23 pm

Has anyone ever added shredded carrots for this recipe? Would like to make it more like a carrot cake. If so, how much…I’m thinking 1/2 cup.

Reply
JoAnne January 6, 2021 - 3:07 am

Waiting for my cookbook to arrive January 6, can wait to try thr humming bird cake and many more recipes!!

Reply
Donna January 11, 2021 - 4:05 pm

Made this cake this weekend. The flavor is excellent, the smell of it baking was glorious. Unfortunately the texture was extremely dense and gummy. Followed directions exactly. Did I underbake it? Frosting also yellowed and basically almost disappeared into cake after being refrigerated. Help,

Reply
Jill Dalton January 12, 2021 - 9:53 am

My guess would be that you might have overground the oats.Sorry you had this experience Donna.

Reply
Elisabeth February 28, 2021 - 2:08 pm

So what is the ideal texture of the oat flour?

Reply
Jill Dalton March 1, 2021 - 9:08 am

It should still be a bit gritty. You should still be able to see little bits of the oats still.

Reply
Karen Sher May 28, 2021 - 9:45 pm

So maybe I should grind oats rather than use the oat flour I bought? Also, I will be making this in the morning, and just realized I have 3 8-inch pans but not 3 9-inch pans. I imagine I will need to add a few minutes to baking time. Any other advice?

Reply
Jill Dalton May 29, 2021 - 8:40 am

You are right, I would grind the oats. It really seems to do better. I would probably add at least 5-10 more minutes for baking.

Reply
Karen Sher May 30, 2021 - 9:55 pm

I did add an extra several minutes and I also lowered the baking temperature since I was adding time. The cake was delicious. And it was easy to grind it so that some grit remained! Thank you.

Shay November 22, 2021 - 12:36 am

Wondering–could I just use flour instead of oats or sub-out some of the oats so it would be a lighter cake–then leave everything else the same as you’ve listed? I know it wouldn’t be nearly as healthy …

Re: Nuts: I have a copy of Helen Wiser’s original recipe (from gaud only knows how long ago)–it calls for 1/4c black walnuts along w 3/4c pecans in the cake; the frosting has 1c chopped pecans–she wrote “carefully draw a circle on the top layer w a toothpick and fill in that circle w the chopped pecans.”

Thank you for your work!

Reply
Jill Dalton November 22, 2021 - 9:41 am

I haven’t tried making this cake with regular flour, sorry. Not sure how it would do. I love the mix of nuts in her recipe.

Reply
Christina Monroy March 20, 2022 - 7:59 pm

I am not a big cake person at all, but this is seriously my all time favorite cake!! Sooo good.

Reply
Jill Dalton March 22, 2022 - 11:15 am

Fantastic!

Reply
Shalyse May 20, 2022 - 2:42 pm

I liked this cake, but it tasted more like baked oatmeal than cake to me. Also, it unfortunately grew mold after 2 days at room temperature so we had to toss like 2/3 of the cake :'(
I guess next time I’ll just refrigerate immediately. I’ll probably have to bake it in a different shape as it would be difficult to fit a 3 layer cake into my fridge.

Reply
Angela June 23, 2022 - 8:23 am

I made this yummy cake for my birthday today.
I am excited to eat it later. Thank you Jill for such yummy recipes.

Reply
Erika July 7, 2023 - 1:46 pm

If you half the recipe for cupcakes, how long should the baking time be?

Reply
Jill Dalton July 8, 2023 - 2:42 pm

That is a good question. I would try 25 minutes.

Reply

Share your thoughts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: