Hummingbird Sheet Cake with Creamy White Chocolate Frosting
This hummingbird sheet cake, topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting, is a cheerful way to welcome spring…
- Prep
- 25 mins
- Cook
- 55 mins
- Total
- 1 hr 20 mins
- Makes
- 20
This Hummingbird Sheet Cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting is a cheerful way to welcome spring! It's wonderfully moist and packed with the warm flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, banana and pineapple. Bake it and share it with family, friends and neighbors!
Step-by-Step Instructions
This hummingbird sheet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting is simple to make, and you won't need your mixer for the cake!
Before you begin, I'd suggest getting these ingredients ready so the recipe flows without any stops:
- Eggs. Let them come to room temperature, then lightly beat them before they go into the batter.
- Crushed Canned Pineapple. Drain the juice from the pineapple using a strainer.
- Bananas – Use soft, ripe bananas and mash them together in a bowl.
To start this hummingbird cake, whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then use a spatula to stir in the lightly beaten eggs, oil and vanilla extract until the batter is moistened.
Next, fold in the pineapple, bananas and pecans one at a time. The batter should be thick and mushy. Spread it into a generously sprayed 9″ x 13″ cake pan and bake for 50-55 minutes at 350ºF.
Creamy White Chocolate Frosting
Just like the hummingbird cake, this fluffy white chocolate cream cheese frosting comes together with very little effort!
This frosting recipe makes enough to coat the top and sides of the 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, with extra left over for stenciling the top.
Cake Stenciling Tools
Here are a few stenciling tools I used to decorate my hummingbird sheet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting.
- To spread frosting over the whole cake, I used an angled spatula.
- I used the Martha Stewart Crafts® Otomi Laser Cut Stencil, which fit the 9″ x 13″ sheet cake nicely.
- To apply the different colors of frosting, I used this set of plastic spatula palette knives.
- You could also use these Ateco frosting scrapers instead.
- For coloring the cream cheese frosting, I used Wilton's Color Right Performance Coloring System.
Cake Stenciling Tips
There are many ways to stencil a cake, but these tips worked well for me with this hummingbird sheet cake and white chocolate cream cheese frosting. If you've stenciled a cake before, I'd love to hear what worked for you in the comments below!
I'll be honest: stenciling took some time and patience, so this step is completely optional! If you skip it, you can scale the recipe down using the amounts listed in the notes section of the recipe below.
Coloring
- Decide ahead of time which colors you want for stenciling. If you're unsure, search Pinterest for spring (or whatever season it is for you) color palettes. While you're there, give my Pinterest page a follow.
- I mixed the Wilton color gels into small amounts of cream cheese frosting, so the purples and greens came out bolder than they would using the 2 cups of frosting Wilton calls for to get the shades on its chart. Keep that in mind if you want a lighter tint.
- As mentioned above, you can apply the colored frosting with either the plastic spatula palette knives or the Ateco frosting scrapers.
- Keep some paper towels nearby to wipe the spatulas and scrapers clean as you work.
Frosting and Chilling
- When frosting the cake, I took it to the highest level I could. Small imperfections are fine, since they add to the charm of a stenciled cake.
- Once the cake is frosted, refrigerate it for at least 30-45 minutes, or until the frosting no longer feels sticky. You want it firm to the touch, which made stenciling much easier for me.
Stenciling
- Gently lay the stencil on the chilled, firm frosting. It should sit as flush as possible, but you don't need to press it into the frosting. If you see any gaps, press down very gently until it's even. Keep at least one hand on the stencil while you work so it doesn't shift.
- I stenciled from left to right and top to bottom, the way we read. I don't recommend starting at the bottom and working up, because you'd have to lean over the work you've already done and could smudge the frosting.
- You only need a thin layer of colored frosting to fill each stenciled area. Scrape off any excess carefully. For the look I wanted, it was fine if some colored frosting blended into the plain frosting, or if the shades overlapped.
After Stenciling
- If stenciling took a while and the frosting has warmed back up to room temperature, chill the cake in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes before lifting the stencil. If the frosting is still firm, carefully remove the stencil at that point.
- To pull off the stencil, I started at the corners and worked my way inward. A spatula helped me lift the corners and any spots that seemed stuck.
- Once the stencil is off, you may find a few wonky areas (this happened to me in a couple of spots) or extra frosting along the edges of the design. You can smooth those out, or press down on the frosting with a small spatula, scalpel or X-Acto knife.
More Cake Recipes You Might Enjoy
If you tried this Easy Hummingbird Sheet Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my site, please leave a star rating and tell me how it went in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!
Hummingbird Sheet Cake with Creamy White Chocolate Frosting
This hummingbird sheet cake is wonderfully moist, and every bite is full of cinnamon, nutmeg, banana and pineapple flavor! Top it with silky white chocolate cream cheese frosting for a perfect dessert!
- Prep
- 25 mins
- Cook
- 55 mins
- Total
- 1 hr 20 mins
- Makes
- 20
Ingredients
Hummingbird Sheet Cake
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 3 Large Eggs, whisked before added
- 1 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 8 oz Crushed Pineapple, well-drained
- 1 cup Pecans, chopped, plus extra for topping
- 3 Bananas, well-ripened and smashed
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 oz White Chocolate, I used 1 1/2 bars of Ghirardelli’s White Chocolate
- 12 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 3/4 – 4 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
Method
- Set your oven rack to the 2nd level and preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Generously spray a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with a flour-based baking spray. Lay a sheet of parchment across the width of the pan, then spray the top and sides of the parchment again.
- Before you start, whisk the eggs in a small bowl and set it aside. In another bowl, mash the ripe bananas and set those aside too. Drain the crushed pineapple now so it's ready for the batter.
- Add the granulated sugar to a large mixing bowl, then sift in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Whisk everything together until combined.
- Using a spatula, stir in the whisked eggs, then the vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Mix until the batter is just combined and moistened.
- Fold in the drained crushed pineapple, chopped pecans and mashed bananas. The batter will be thick and mushy.
- Spread the batter into the greased, parchment-lined 9” x 13” pan and bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then lift it out with the parchment sling and move it to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, with 1” to 1.5” of water in the bottom pan over low heat. You can also use a heatproof glass mixing bowl that rests evenly over a saucepan. Stir the white chocolate constantly until fully melted, then take it off the heat and let it cool slightly. A microwave-safe bowl works too.
- With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and unsalted butter on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the bowl's sides as needed.
- Mix in the melted white chocolate and vanilla extract until everything is well blended.
- Lower the mixer to low speed and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar a little at a time until it's fully incorporated. The frosting should be fluffy and easy to spread.
Baker’s notes
- This recipe makes enough frosting to cover the top and sides (optional) of a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, plus extra for stenciling.
- If you're not stenciling or adding extra frosting decoration, you can scale the recipe down to 4 ounces white chocolate, 8 ounces cream cheese, 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar.
- The prep and cook times don't include the frosting. For this part, the suggested times are: prep 20 minutes, frosting 10 minutes, and chilling and stenciling 1 hour (30 minutes of chilling before applying the stencil, plus 30 minutes for stenciling).
