Vegan Hummingbird Cake

Step 1

Preheat oven 350 °F (175 °C) and have a shelf positioned in the middle of the oven.

Step 2

Grease and line the bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans and set them aside.

Step 3

To a large mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients except the pecan nuts. That's the flour, sugar, coconut, ground flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Whisk together well.

Step 4

If you haven't already, mash the banana to a puree in a medium sized bowl.

Step 5

To the banana add the oil, milk, pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and chopped pineapple. Mix them together. It might curdle a bit. Don't worry, that's fine.

Step 6

Have the chopped pecans and your cake pans ready and near you, as once the batter is mixed you need to work fast.

Step 7

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir together gently with a spatula. The batter will be thick. Make sure to get right into the bottom of the bowl to get all of the dry ingredients. Don't beat it or overmix. Treat it gently but work quickly. The sooner you get it in the oven the better your cakes will be.

Step 8

Fold in half of the chopped pecan nuts (you can eye-ball it. It doesn't have to be absolutely exact) then immediately spoon the batter evenly between the 2 cake pans.

Step 9

Give the pans a hard tap on your work surface to knock out any air bubbles then put them in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer, toothpick, or thin knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Step 10

Remove from the oven and place the cakes still in their pans on a wire rack and allow them to cool. Don't remove them from the pans yet.

Step 11

Add the vegan butter to a large bowl and beat it with an electric mixer on a medium-high speed until soft and fluffy.

Step 12

Add the cream cheese and beat again until combined and smooth but don't over-beat. As soon as it's combined stop.

Step 13

Now add the arrowroot powder, salt, vanilla and about 2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat on the lowest speed for about 20 seconds until the powdered sugar has stopped flying around, then add another 2 cups. Beat again on low until it's mostly combined then turn the speed up to medium-high again and beat until smooth and creamy, scraping down the edges with a spatula as needed to get any dry powdered sugar off the sides and into the mix.

Step 14

Add the remaining powdered sugar to thicken as needed. Using it all makes the frosting much easier to handle, spread and pipe.

Step 15

As soon as it's nice and smooth stop. It's important not to over-beat. Do not be tempted to add any more liquid to the frosting at any stage because it will become too runny. Once done, cover the bowl and put it in the fridge until needed.

Step 16

Place one cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate flat side up. Evenly spread the top with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting.

Step 17

Place the other sponge cake on top, flat side down. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides.

Step 18

Garnish with the remaining chopped pecans.

Step 19

I recommend refrigerating the cake for at least 30 minutes before attempting to cut it to give the frosting time to firm a little and make slicing neater and easier.