What is hummingbird cake anyway? Oh I’m SO glad you asked. First, it’s a Southern thing. I think it may have originated in Jamaica, but apparently the South heard about it and just ran with it. It doesn’t have anything to do with hummingbirds. Maybe it’s just sweet enough that hummingbirds would want to eat it too…I don’t know.
Hummingbird Cake is made with oil, not butter and it’s also got bananas and pineapple in it as well. And as I always do, I had to spice it up a bit and they turned into these Hummingbird Cheesecake Topped Cupcakes.
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In normal Kara fashion, I can’t leave well enough alone, so I decided to add a baked cheesecake topping, then topped it all with a cream cheese buttercream. (No, there’s never too much cream cheese.)
So you’ve got a moist banana pineapple cake, topped with a baked cheesecake topping and then a rich and creamy cream cheese buttercream. I’m telling you…these are addictive.
I used a 1M icing tip to pipe on the buttercream. You could also use a 2D.
Now, this recipe makes a ton of cupcakes. This recipe makes 36 cupcakes instead of 24. Here’s why:
1. You’re only filling each cupcake liner half full (2 Tbsp) and that’s because you’ll be adding in a bit of the cream cheese filling mixture in each cupcake as well. If you want to skip the filling, then the cake batter alone should make about 24 cupcakes.
2. I wanted to write the recipe so there would actually be enough cake batter alone to fill 2, 8″ round cake pans if you wanted to make it a cake instead of cupcakes. (You could even spread the batter into a pan and then dollup the cream cheese filling over the top of each and marble if you’d like. At the time of this posting I have not tested that out but in theory, it should work.)
3. These babies taste so freaking good that you’ll just want to eat more. So, more is better right?
Ok, let’s get to the recipe…and don’t forget to check out the video below as well.
Hummingbird Cheesecake Topped Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cheesecake Topping:
- 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp crushed pineapple
For the Cake Batter:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 tsp soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup oil (like vegetable or canola)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple minus 2 tbsps (reserve the 2 Tbsp for the filling)
- 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 small bananas)
- 2/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)
For the Cream Cheese Buttercream:
- 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese softened
- 1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 5 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
For the Cheesecake Topping:
- Mix all the filling ingredients together and set aside in the fridge to chill while you mix up the cupcake batter.
For the Cake Batter:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill three cupcake pans with cupcake liners. (If u only have two cupcake pans, just use the two and chill the leftover batter until the others bake, then use the pan).
- Mix flour, sugar, soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, mix together the eggs and oil and vanilla.
- Pour the egg mixture into the dry mixture and mix with a spoon.
- Add in the pineapple and mashed bananas and mix with a spoon. Add in nuts if desired.
- Spoon two tablespoons of cake batter into cupcake liners (about halfway full). Add in a scant tablespoon of the filling on top of each cupcake.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.
- This recipe makes 36 cupcakes which is three cupcake pans. If you only have two cupcake pans, Chill any remaining batter and use it as soon as the other cupcakes bake and cool enough to remove from the cupcake pan.
- Cool completely before adding cream cheese buttercream.
- The tops of cupcakes will flatten out a bit while cooling because of the filling, but that's to be expected. You're about to pipe on some buttercream so don't worry.
For the Cream Cheese Buttercream:
- Mix together the softened cream cheese and softened butter. Add in the confectioners sugar plus lemon juice and mix well. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes. I used a 1M piping tip.
Notes
1. You're only filling each cupcake liner half full (2 Tbsp) and that's because you'll be adding in a bit of the cream cheese filling mixture in each cupcake as well. If you want to skip the filling, then the cake batter alone should make about 24 cupcakes.
2. I wanted to write the recipe so it would actually be enough batter alone to fill 2, 8" round cake pans if you wanted to make it a cake instead of cupcakes. (You could even spread the batter into a pan and then dollup the cream cheese filling over the top of each and marble if you'd like. At the time of this posting I have not tested that out but in theory, it should work.)
3. These babies taste so good that you'll just want to eat more.
So, more is better right?
Nutrition
Tools Used for the Hummingbird Cheesecake Topped Cupcakes:
And here’s the video:
More banana cakes you might like:
Banana Toffee Cake with Browned Butter Toffee Frosting
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I loved the step by step of your recipe. I’m going to test this weekend. But only by the photos it already looks tasty.
Oh I’m glad the step-by-step is helpful 🙂 Let me know how you like it!