Hummingbird Cake

Recipe calls for "2 (8-ounce/227-gram) cans crushed pineapple in juice." To me, it is not clear whether the pineapple is drained or if the juice should be included when making the cake. I am guessing the cans of pineapple go into the cake UNdrained, as other hummingbird cake recipes state undrained. Also, do you think this might work in a Bundt pan? (I don't have 3 round cake pans!).

Being a small household, I made 2/3 the cake recipe and half the icing recipe; quite easy to calculate each. I did it in a Bundt pan, which worked quite well. The only change was adding golden raisins. Very tasty and definitely one to repeat.

Hummingbirds are hard to come by much of the year. Any substitution recommendations?

To John G, would you mind giving the 2/3 measurements? I am math-impaired.

1. It would state "drained" if the crushed pineapple were meant to be drained. 2. If you don't have 3 round cake pans then bake them one at a time. You don't have to bake them all at the same time. 3. There is a lot of powdered sugar and a lot of icing because it's a 3-layer cake. Powdered sugar is lighter and less dense than regular sugar therefore gives a smoother texture. You need 1 3/4 c of powdered sugar to substitute for 1 c of granulated sugar.

I've made this before in a loaf pan and don't make the icing. I like dried cherries in it too.

For those seeking a less-sugared frosting, look at the frosting recipe in Margaux Laskey's Sweet Potato Hummingbird Cake, on this same NYT Cooking site. Same 3-layer size cake, but a frosting with half the sugar. My screen is actually showing it, as a search recommendation, at the top of the screen of this present recipe.

The original recipe in Southern Living called for one 8-ounce can of crushed UNDRAINED pineapple (in its own juice; don't use canned crushed pineapple in a syrup). Regarding the frosting: one 8-ounce block of cream cheese (Philadelphia brand - don't substitute), with one stick of butter and about 13-14 ounces of confectioners sugar with a tsp or so of lemon juice should be enough. BTW, this needs to be refrigerated and should be made a day in advance.

Change forms of the measurements so they are divisible by 3, divide by 3, then double: 3 3/4 = 15/4, one-third is 5/4 = 1 1/4 C flour x 2 = 2 1/2 C flour. Going down the list, 1/3 measurements are: 2/3, 1/3, 1/3, 1 (egg), 1/2, 1/3, 1/3, 2/3, (1/2 - 2/3 C pineapple: I'd just put in one can), 1/4 C pecans. For 2/3, use 2 1/2 C flour, 1 1/3 t cinnamon, 2/3, 2/3, 2 eggs, 1 C bananas, 2/3, 2/3, 1 1/3, 1-1 1/2 cans pineapple, 1/2 C pecans.

Made it! Here's my notes: I don't have three 9" baking pans. In fact I had 0. Instead, I used a 10" pan, a 9" springform pan, and a bundt pan. I adjusted the batter so that most would be in the lower layers. It worked! The assembled cake had a nice professional look to it with bundt cake on top, springform in middle, & 10" cake last. Instead of using this diabetes frosting recipe, I followed the suggestion to use Margaux Laskey's Sweet Potato Hummingbird Cake icing recipe, also on NY Cooking.

To make this travel easier I used 2/3 of the recipe in a 9 x 13 glass pan - had to cook an extra 20 min at 325 to finish the middle and not over do the edges. It was a hit! A real crowd pleaser at our first friends BBQ after more than a year. Folks went back for seconds. Toasting the pecans seems key for flavor. Added the pineapple with juice from the can. I used candied pineapple chunks as we didn’t have rings. Nasturtium and Pansies graced the top - I will make this again!

How much less sugar can I use in the frosting and still have it be a tasty complement to the cake? I can't see adding 7.5 cups of confectioners' sugar. It's just not anything I'd feed anyone or eat myself! That's a lot of sugar! Still can't believe it's that much.

Made this exactly as written. Baked the cakes the day I was bringing it to a dinner party. The pineapple and juice was added to the batter. I baked 3x9” layers and chilled them overnight. The cake was very moist and baked beautifully. I made the icing as written, yes with all the confectioners sugar. There was a lot of icing left over, maybe 1/3 was not used at all. No problem, I’ll freeze it and pull it out another time. I couldn’t find any edible flowers on short notice.

Much easier to use weighs to arrive at 2/3 Recipe, but as it’s like a quick bread it does not need to be exact 316 grams of flour 224 grams mashed banana 145 grams brown sugar 2/3 cup of sugar 2/3 cup of oil 150 grams or grated carrots 8 oz butter 4 oz cream cheese Maple syrup to taste in

Could add golden raisins too!