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This Gluten Free Hummingbird Cake is such a fruity treat! A tropical cake packed with pineapple, banana and passionfruit, with a zesty orange cream cheese frosting. So delicious, its like a slice of sunshine!
A Tropical Taste in Every Slice of Hummingbird Cake
- Why choose this recipe? If you love a carrot cake then you have to try this Gluten Free Hummingbird Cake. The cake is packed with banana, pineapple and passionfruit to keep it moist, with crunchy pecans and a sweet and zesty cream cheese frosting. Great for those with a sweet tooth!
- What is a Hummingbird Cake? This 3-tier banana and pineapple cake, spiced with cinnamon, actually originated in Jamaica. It later became a popular dessert in the southern US states in the 70s. I think it tastes like a combination of gluten free carrot cake and banana bread – with a tropical taste from the pineapple and passionfruit.
- Updated for 2025: I first published this recipe in 2018, but felt like it deserved a refresh! It’s now got new step-by-step photos and tips for making dairy free.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card below for this gluten free Hummingbird Cake with the full quantities. But here are the main ingredients and ideas for any swaps.
- Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour: I usually use FREEE as it’s readily available in UK free from aisles. Alternatively add 1 tsp baking powder per 100g gluten free plain flour to make your own self-rising flour.
- Olive Oil: This helps to keep the cake really moist, and also makes the sponge dairy free. You can use butter but I much prefer oil.
- Eggs
- Xanthan Gum: You can omit this if you flour blend already contains it.
- Light Brown Sugar: This helps to create a more caramelised flavour than caster sugar.
- Cinnamon
- Bananas: These add a lovely sweet flavour and keep the cake moist.
- Tinned Crushed Pineapple: You’ll also need to reserve some of the juice for the frosting.
- Passionfruit: For that totally tropical flavour.
- Pecan Nuts: Feel free to omit these if you need this cake to be nut-free, or use walnuts if you prefer the taste.
For the cream cheese frosting you’ll also need icing sugar (or confectioner’s sugar in the US), butter, cream cheese (use full-fat) and orange zest.
To make the frosting dairy free you can swap the butter for a vegan margarine and the cream cheese for a dairy free one. Violife is my favourite for dairy free frosting.
How to Make a Gluten Free Hummingbird Cake
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free Hummingbird Cake is to make.
Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line three, 20cm diameter round baking tins and set aside.
Add the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon and sugar to a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
Next add the eggs, oil, pineapple, banana and passion fruit to the flour mixture and beat until combined. Add the chopped pecan nuts and stir through.
Separate the mixture between the three cake tins (it should be approx 510g of mix per tin) and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean from the centre. Once cooked, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
Once the cakes have cooled, make the frosting by beating together the icing sugar, butter, cream cheese, pineapple juice and orange zest in a large bowl until smooth.
Assemble the cake by placing one sponge on top of the other, sandwiching and then topping with the frosting.
I used a spatula to spread frosting around the sides of the cakes too, and then decorate as you wish with chopped pecans and some extra orange zest.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: This cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week. Keep at room temperature – chilling gluten free cakes can cause them to go stale quicker.
TO FREEZE: This cake is suitable for freezing. I would recommend freezing it in slices so you have enjoy when you have a cake craving! You can also make the sponges ahead of time, freeze them, then defrost and decorate to serve.
More Gluten Free Cake Recipes
If you like this Gluten Free Hummingbird Cake recipe then make sure you check out these other gluten free cake recipes too…
- Gluten Free Victoria Sponge
- Jam and Coconut Sponge
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Malt Loaf
- Gluten Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
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Gluten Free Hummingbird Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 350 g gluten free self-raising flour, (or 350g plain gluten free flour + 3.5 tsp gluten free baking powder)
- 250 ml olive oil
- 0.25 tsp xanthan gum, (omit if your flour already contains this)
- 350 g light brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 ripe bananas, (mushed with a fork)
- 160 g tinned crushed pineapple, (drained – but keep the juice for the frosting)
- 2 passionfruit, (pulp only)
- 60 g pecan nuts, (roughly chopped)
- 2 large eggs
For the frosting:
- 250 g icing sugar
- 115 g unsalted butter, (room temperature)
- 100 g cream cheese, (full fat)
- 1 tbsp pineapple juice, (from the tin)
- 1 orange, (zest only)
- Extra chopped pecans for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line three, 20cm diameter round baking tins and set aside.
- Add the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon and sugar to a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
- Next add the eggs, oil, pineapple, banana and passion fruit to the flour mixture and beat until combined. Add the chopped pecan nuts and stir through.
- Separate the mixture between the three cake tins (it should be approx 510g of mix per tin) and bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the centre.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Once all of the cakes are completely cool, remove them from the tins.
To make the frosting:
- Beat together the icing sugar, butter, cream cheese, pineapple juice and orange zest in a large bowl until smooth.
- Assemble the cake by placing one sponge on top of the other, sandwiching and then topping with the frosting. I used a spatula to spread frosting around the sides of the cakes too, and then decorate as you wish with chopped pecans and some extra orange zest.
Notes
- Storing: Once cooled, keep this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze it, and I recommend doing this in slices.
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups/imperial. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: If you prefer a visual aid, check out the post above for photos to guide you through how this recipe should look at each stage.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and a little comment sharing how much you loved this Gluten Free Hummingbird Cake! It really helps to support my website and get my recipes out there to everyone who needs them! xx
Nutrition
More Gluten Free Bakes
My gluten and dairy free ginger and rum tray bake
Gluten and dairy free coconut and passionfruit loaf cake
Vegan Banana Bread
My gluten free carrot and hazelnut cake with orange cream cheese frosting
Gluten and dairy free banana, date and walnut cake recipe
My gluten free lemon and pistachio drizzle cake
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