Ingredients include flour, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, ripe banana, pineapple, cinnamon, pecans, vanilla extract, eggs, and leavening agent.

In 1968, the Jamaica Tourist Board exported the recipe for hummingbird cake, along with other local Jamaican recipes, in media press kits sent to the USA.

[4] The marketing was aimed at American consumers to create interest in visiting the island.

[5] The recipe was a hit with readers and won the Favorite Cake Award later that same year at the Kentucky State Fair.

[7] The Southern cake typically has two or three layers with pecans (or walnuts), mashed ripe bananas, canned crushed pineapple and a sweet cream cheese frosting.