I've been playing around with a white cake version of this for cupcakes. It's bake sale season around here and cupcakes are always a big seller. The problem I kept running into was texture. My 15 yr old said it tasted like cornbread, meaning a coarse texture. I ended up using cake flour and superfine sugar and that seemed to do the trick. The original recipe calls for all purpose flour so I got out my scale and weighed an equal amount of cake flour (125g/cup). I'm not sure on the substitution ratio in cups of cake flour for all- purpose. I also added in about 1/3 c of sprinkles to make them funfetti:) This is my version of the recipe Vegan Cupcakes from allrecipes. This is definitely not vegan anymore. 2c all purpose flour (I used 250g cake flour) 1 1/2 c buttermilk 1 c superfine sugar 2 t baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1/2 c oil 1/2 t vanilla 1/2 t almond extract Preheat oven to 350�. Line 18 muffin cups with liners. In large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. In separate bowl whisk together buttermilk, oil, and extracts. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Spoon into muffin cups and bake 15-20 minutes.

Hello, I usually hang out in the harvest forum. (Hi Annie!) I had the same crumbling problem with this Key Lime Coconut Cake from epicurious. I made it for my mother's birthday which is right before thanksgiving. The flavor was great and it was nice and light tasting which was what I had in mind. However it just fell apart into crumbs. We ended up eating with spoons. Since we liked the flavor I'd like to make it again so that it will hold together but still be light. I don't usually keep self rising flour around so I'd rather use AP or cake flour and my own leavenings. I actually "borrowed" SR flour from Mom. She asked me what I was making. It was funny to say, "Your birthday cake." The neighbors tree is loaded with limes so no shortage of those. I'm sure the family would be happy to try out my experiments. Does anyone have any idea where to start? I thought about using coconut milk but that would a lot more fat than whole milk. Also, I added a half teaspoon of coconut extract to the batter. Thanks for you help! Oh, also the reviews said it would overflow a regular cake pan so I used a spring form and it did need the extra space. 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 tablespoon grated Key lime zest 2 large eggs 1 3/4 cups self-rising flour 3/4 cup whole milk 1/4 cup fresh Key lime juice, divided 1 cup confectioners sugar 1 tablespoon rum (optional) Preheat oven to 350 F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Toast coconut in a small baking pan in oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool. Leave oven on. Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Stir together flour and 1/2 cup coconut (reserve remainder for topping). Stir together milk and 2 tablespoons lime juice. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour. Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment. Whisk together confectioners sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and rum (if using) and pour over cake. Sprinkle with remaining coconut. Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Key-Lime-Coconut-Cake-351877#ixzz1fCc9Vh99

Here is the part of the thread I saved: # 1 HUMMINGBIRD CAKE Serves: 16 Time: about an hour for the cake + bake time Source: Southern Living Magazine 3 cups or 7dl all-purpose flour  2 cups or 4,75dl sugar  1 teaspoon baking soda  1/2 teaspoon salt  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  3 large eggs, lightly beaten  3/4 cup or 1,75dl vegetable or sunflower oil  1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla/vanilla sugar  1 8oz or 225g can crushed pineapple, undrained  1 cup chopped pecans  1 3/4 cups or 4,25dl mashed/pureed ripe bananas  cream cheese frosting (recipe below)  dried pineapple flowers (directions below) 1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Grease and flour 2 or 3 9-inch/23cm cake pans. Mash ripe bananas in a bowl with a fork and chop pecans into small, but not fine, pieces. Set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add eggs and oil until dry ingredients are just moistened. Add vanilla, pineapple, pecans and bananas, stirring until combined. 3. Pour batter evenly into 2 or 3 round cake pans. 4. Bake at 350F/175C for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack lined with baking paper. 5. Spread cream cheese frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Decorate with dried pineapple flowers. Store in refrigerator. CREAM CHEESE FROSTING Makes: 3 1/4 cups or 7.5dl  1/2 cup or 113g butter, room temperature  8oz or 225g cream cheese, room temperature  16oz or 455g powdered sugar  1 teaspoon vanilla  1/2 cup or 1,2dl chopped pecans (sprinkle between cake layers) Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Beat at high speed until smooth; stir in vanilla. DRIED PINEAPPLE FLOWERS Makes: about 2 dozen Time: about 3 hours - prepare 1-3 days in advance  2 large pineapples (about 1kg) (the recipe works best if the pineapples are not quite ripe). Heat oven to 225F/110C. Line a couple baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Peel pineapples with a serrated knife (Remove "eyes" using a very tiny melonballer, or paring knife if you don't plan to use a flower cookie cutter for shaping them.) Cut crosswise into very thin slices and place in a single layer on prepared baking sheets. Bake until tops look dry, anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. Using tongs, flip slices over and continue to cook until reasonably dry, about an hour or so. Arrange on a wire rack and leave to cool and dry a bit more for a few hours. (note: A convection oven is an advantage for faster drying so use it if you have it.) When slices are cool and dry, take a small metal flower-shaped cookie cutter and press into dried pineapple. Use a rolling pin on top of the cookie cutter to press firmly. Set cut flowers aside on the wire rack. When the flowers are dry, but still a bit pliable, hold the center of the flower between your thumb and forefinger in one hand and pull the petals of the flower upwards with your other hand to give them a more realistic look. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. #2 Hummingbird Cake Ingredients 3 cup All purpose flour 3 large Egg well beaten 2 cup Sugar 3 medium Bananas chopped 1 teaspoon Cinnamon ground 1 cup Walnuts or pecans, finely chopped 1 teaspoon Baking soda 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla 1/2 teaspoon Salt GLAZE 1 can (8 oz) Pineapple crushed, with juice 1 tablespoon Butter or margarine, melted 1 cup Oil 1 cup Powdered sugar sifted Instructions for Hummingbird Cake Preheat oven to 325F / 160C / Gas Mark3. Generously grease a 10" tube or a fluted tube pan. To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Next remove 2 Tablespoons of juice from the can of pinapple. Set this juice aside for the glaze To the flour mixture, add the can of pinapple, the oil, eggs, banana, nuts, and vanilla. Stir until just blended. Do not beat. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the 325 degree oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the pan from the cake. Cool completely. To make the glaze: In a small bowl combine the melted butter or margarine with the powdered sugar. Add enough of the reserved pinapple juice to make a glaze of drizzling consistancy. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. For a glaze with a whole new dimension, try substituting rum for the pinapple juice. #3 Ruby Throated Hummingbird Cake Ingredients 1 1/2 c Flour 3 tb Baking powder 1 pn Salt 1/3 c Sugar 1/2 c Vegetable oil 6 x Egg yolks 1 cn (8oz) crushed pineapple 2 tb Lemon juice 6 x Egg whites 1 pn Cream of tartar 1/2 c Sugar Filling: 1/2 c Water 1 1/2 tb Cornstarch 1/3 c Sugar 2 tb White rum 1 c Chopped strawberries Icing: 1/2 c Butter 1 pk (8oz) cream cheese 1 ts Vanilla Milk 1 md Sweet red grapefruit Fresh flowers (rose petals Instructions: Cake: In a mixer or food processor sift together the flour, baking powder, salt & sugar. Blend in oil, egg yolk, pineapple & lemon juice & mix well. In a separate bowl beat egg whites, cream of tartar & sugar until very stiff. Fold the cake mix into the egg white mixture & stir until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 10" tube pan & bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove from oven & cool upside down on rack. When cooled remove to serving plate. Filling: Stir cornstarch into the cold water & heat gently in saucepan until it starts to thicken. Stir in the sugar & rum. Beat until smooth & shiny. Stir in the chopped strawberries. Icing: In a food processor combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla & confectioners sugar. Process to a smooth spreadable paste. Adjust the texture with a little milk if necessary. To assemble: Spoon strawberry filling into the hollow center of the cake. Spread the icing over the cake including the sides. Decorate the top with grapefruit sections & flowers. #4 Mrs. Wiggins' recipe [1978] "Hummingbird cake 3 cups all-pupose flour 2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cups salad oil 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained 2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, divided 2 cups chopped bananas Cream cheese frosting (recipe follows) Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; add eggs and salad oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup chopped pecans, and bananas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch cakepans. Bake at 350 degrees F. For 25 to 30 minutes; remove from pans, and cool immediately. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans. Yield: one 9-inch layer cake. Cream Cheese Frosting 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 cup butter or margarine, softened 2 (16 ounce) packages powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Yield: enough for a 3 layer cake.--Mrs. L.H. Wiggins, Greesnboro, North Carolina" Notes disneyginger (My Page) on Sun, Apr 13, 08 at 13:19 I found a recipe that was excellent on the Nestle website that gave me the best hummingbird cake I have ever had. It is a recipe that someone submitted to their site, not a Nestle recipe. Mostly, I have had it in layers with a cream cheese frosting or a frosting like red velvet cake frosting. When I've made it for Bake Sales, I make them in the little tea cake tins and frost them with cream cheese frosting. I haven't done a bake sale in about a year or more, but would make this again. They are a BIG seller item, and were sold at two dollars for each little rectangle brick. The recipe gave me 8 tins and I make it three times for a grand total of 24 little tins. You can cut a bundt cake into layers too, and frost it. But, I think the cake is so rich, tasty and moist, that just a bundt and powdered sugar would be perfect too. Best made with really ripe bananas.

starlightfarm - Using a candy thermometer is probably the easiest and most accurate way to know when your mixture has hit the soft ball stage. If you do a lot of candy making it's a good tool to invest in. There's a mark on the gauge that let's you know when you're there. And it's pretty easy to go beyond soft ball into the hard crack stage if you're not paying close attention. This recipe isn't so ticklish, though, and I made it without using a candy thermometer for more than 25 yrs. In fact last year I didn't have one and went back to the method of testing that my mother taught me years ago. Someone who is more knowledgeable in this regard may chime in and offer better or clearer instructions, but I'm happy to tell you how I do it. Keep an eye on your mixture after it comes to a boil and reduce the heat so it continues at a rolling simmer. Stir continuously, but not briskly with a wooden spoon. Have a clear short tumbler of very cold water next to the stovetop. When this mixture has boiled for 6 mins. do your first check. That means pull the wooden spoon out, let the majority of the liquid drip back into the pot, then hold the spoon sideways over the tumbler and allow a few drops of the liquid to drip into the water. At first you will likely find that the drops dive down and flatten out on the bottom and pretty much disperse into the water. Not ready. Empty your glass and refill (sometimes I line up about 3 glasses before I start testing, so I don't have to deal with cleaning them out during the process). Boil a minute or 2 longer and test again. You will find that the consistency thickens and the mixture darkens toward amber as you continue to cook it. You will know you have reached the soft ball stage when the little drips turn into a ball shape when they descend down into the water. And when they land on the bottom, they will still have a bit of plumpness to them. Put your hand in the glass and pull one out and try to roll it between your fingers. It should have the feel of a very soft, pliable dough that you can roll into a "soft ball." You're there! You'll know you've gone too far if, instead of the drips from the spoon floating down in a ball shape, they descend as little icicle shapes and when you come to pull them out they are hard and may even crack. That's what you want for some recipes, but not this one! Hope this helps! I won't be at all offended if someone else can explain this better & wants to offer advice.