This Hummingbird Sheet Cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting is a fun way to celebrate the return of spring! It’s incredibly moist and delicious and filled with all the wonderful flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, banana, and pineapple! Make it and share it with family, friends, and neighbors!
Table of Contents
How to Make the Recipe
This hummingbird sheet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting is a fun and easy recipe to make! And what’s great is you don’t need your mixer!
Before starting, I suggest preparing the following ingredients so you can move through the recipe without any interruptions:
- Eggs. These should be at room temperature and lightly beaten before adding to the hummingbird sheet cake mixture.
- Crushed Canned Pineapple. The pineapple juice should be drained from the pineapple using a strainer.
- Bananas – The bananas you use in this recipe should be soft, well-ripened, and smashed together in a bowl.
To begin making this hummingbird sheet cake recipe, whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then with a spatula, you’ll stir in the lightly beaten eggs, oil, and vanilla extract until the batter is moistened.
One at a time, you will then fold in the pineapple, bananas, and pecans. The batter should be thick and mushy in texture. Pour the batter into a generously sprayed 9″ x 13″ cake pan and bake for 50-55 minutes at 350ºF.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Like the hummingbird sheet cake, this fluffy white chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe comes together easily!
This cream cheese frosting recipe makes enough to cover the top and sides of the 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, plus extra for stenciling the top of the sheet cake.
Cake Stenciling Tools
Here are a few suggested cake stenciling tools I used for decorating my hummingbird sheet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting.
- For frosting the entire hummingbird sheet cake, I used an angled spatula.
- I used Martha Stewart Crafts® Otomi Laser Cut Stencil. It worked nicely with the 9″ x 13″ sheet cake.
- To apply the different colors of white chocolate cream cheese frosting, I used this set of plastic spatula palette knives.
- You could also use these Ateco frosting scrapers.
- For coloring the cream cheese frosting, I used Wilton’s Color Right Performance Coloring System.
Cake Stenciling Tips
There are many different ways to stencil a cake, but the following tips worked well for me with this hummingbird sheet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe. If you’ve stenciled a cake before, I would love to hear what has worked well for you in the comments below!
And I will be honest and say the cake stenciling did take some time and required a little patience, so this part of the process is totally optional! If skipping the stenciling, you can reduce the recipe using the amounts mentioned in the notes section of the recipe below.
Coloring
- Plan ahead of time what color(s) you’d like to use for stenciling the sheet cake. If you’re stuck on what colors to use, I suggest heading over to Pinterest to search for springtime (or whatever season you’re currently in) color palettes. And then, while you’re over there, give my Beyond the Butter Pinterest page a follow.☺️
- I mixed the Wilton color gels with small amounts of the cream cheese frosting, so the purples and green came through bolder than if using the 2 cups of frosting Wilton uses to get the colors they show on their chart. Just something to keep in mind if you’re looking for a lighter shade.
- As mentioned above, to apply the different colored cream cheese frosting, you can use either the plastic spatula palette knives or these Ateco frosting scrapers.
- Keep some paper towels handy to keep the spatulas and scrapers clean while you work.
Frosting and Chilling
- When frosting the hummingbird sheet cake, I made sure to get it to the highest level possible. It’s okay if you have some imperfections, though. They will make for a more unique-looking stenciled sheet cake.
- After frosting the sheet cake, I recommend placing it in the refrigerator for at least 30-45 minutes or until the frosting is no longer sticky to the touch. You want the frosting to be firm to the touch, which I found it to be easier when it was time for stenciling.
Stenciling
- Gently lay the stencil on top of the chilled and firm frosting. The stencil should be as flush as possible with the frosting, but you don’t need to push it down into the frosting. If you notice any gaps, just push down ever so gently until it’s level. You’ll need to keep at least one hand on the stencil as you work so it doesn’t move around.
- I stenciled in a left-to-right, top to the bottom pattern (just like with reading). I don’t suggest starting at the bottom and working upwards because then you’ll have to lean over the work you just did, possibly smudging the applied frosting.
- You only need a thin layer of colored white chocolate cream cheese frosting to cover the space of the area you’re stenciling. Any extra, you can carefully scrape off. For the look I was going for, I knew that if some of the colored cream cheese frosting got mixed with the regular frosting that would be fine. Same for if the different shades overlapped.
After Stenciling
- If it took you some time to stencil the cake and the frosting is back to room temperature again, I would recommend placing it back in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to chill before lifting the stencil off the cake. If the frosting is still firm to the touch, you can carefully remove it at that time.
- When pulling the stencil off, I started with the corners and kind of work your way inward. I also used a spatula to help lift the corners up and any areas that seemed a little stuck.
- After you’ve removed the stencil and you have any areas that came out a little wonky looking (this happened to me in a few areas) or you have some extra frosting around the edges of the stenciling, you can smooth it out or you can push down on the frosting with a small spatula, scalpel, or x-acto knife.
Check Out These Other Fun Cake Recipes!
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Easy Hummingbird Sheet Cake
Equipment
- 9" x 13" Cake Pan
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
Instructions
Hummingbird Sheet Cake
- Adjust your oven rack to the 2nd level position and preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Generously spray a 9" x 13" cake pan with a flour-based baking spray, lay a sheet of parchment paper across width-wise, then re-spray the top and sides of the parchment paper with the baking spray.
- Before starting, whisk the eggs together in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, mash the ripened bananas and set them to the side. Drain the crushed pineapple now, too, so it's ready for the batter.3 Large Eggs, 3 Bananas, 8 oz Crushed Pineapple
- In a large mixing bowl add in the granulated sugar, then sift in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. Whisk all together until combined.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
- With a spatula, stir in the whisked eggs, then the vegetable oil and vanilla extract, mixing until the cake batter is just combined and moistened.1 cup Vegetable Oil, 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Stir in the drained crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, and smashed bananas. The batter will be thick and mushy in texture.8 oz Crushed Pineapple, 1 cup Pecans, 3 Bananas
- Spread the cake batter into the greased and parchment-lined 9” x 13” cake pan and bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool in the cake pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove the cake using the parchment paper sling and transfer it to the cooling rack to cool completely.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler with 1” —1.5” of water in the bottom sauce pan over low heat. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in a glass heat-proof mixing bowl that sets evenly on top of a saucepan. Continuously stir the white chocolate until it has fully melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. You can also use a microwaveable bowl to microwave the white chocolate.6 oz White Chocolate
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer that’s fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and unsalted butter on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.12 oz Cream Cheese, 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- Add in the melted white chocolate and vanilla extract and mix until everything is well blended.1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- Switch the mixer speed to a low setting and gradually add in the sifted powdered sugar a little at a time until it’s mixed into the rest of the frosting. The frosting should be fluffy in texture and easily spreadable.3 3/4 – 4 cups Powdered Sugar
Video
Notes
- This recipe makes enough frosting for the top and sides (optional) of a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, as well as enough to use for stenciling.
- If you’re not planning to stencil the cake or decorate with the additional frosting, you can reduce the recipe 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.
- Prep and cook times do not include the white chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe. The suggested prep and cook times for this part of the recipe is: Prep time – 20 minutes, Frosting time – 10 minutes, Chilling and Stenciling time – 1 hour (30 minutes initial chilling before applying stencil, 30 for stenciling).
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided above is an estimate only and will vary based on specific ingredients used. See Nutritional Disclaimer for more info.
Just stumbled across this cake, so pretty Jennifer!!! I love how simple the stencil is but it looks so elegant. Now I really want to try some stenciling 🙂
Thank you, Katie! It was my first time using a stencil and I really liked it. I have no doubt you will create some really beautiful cakes with them!!
Firstly, this sound amazingly delicious. Second…what a brilliant and unique decorating idea – especially for the piping challenged such as myself.
Thank you so much, Jo! I’m incredibly happy with how well this cake tastes! And I too am challenged in the piping department…hence the stenciling idea 🙂 haha!