Pineapple-Ginger Crumb Cake

Published Feb. 23, 2022

Pineapple-Ginger Crumb Cake
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1½ hours
Rating
4(335)
Comments
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Chunks of juicy, caramelized pineapple are strewn throughout this sour cream coffee cake, adding bright, fruity notes to the tender crumb. The streusel topping is suffused with ginger — both candied and ground — giving the whole thing a spicy bite. Serve it within a day of baking, or freeze it. It’s good for well for up to 1 month.

Featured in: What’s the Right Crumb Cake Ratio? This Recipe Tries to Find Out

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

    For the Pineapple

    • tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
    • cups/335 grams fresh or thawed frozen pineapple chunks, diced into ½-inch pieces
    • tablespoons dark brown sugar
    • teaspoon ground allspice
    • Pinch of fine sea or table salt

    For the Crumb Topping

    • cups/155 grams all-purpose flour
    • ½cup/105 grams dark brown sugar
    • 3tablespoons coarsely chopped almonds or other nuts
    • 2tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
    • 1teaspoon ground ginger
    • ¼teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ¼teaspoon fine sea or table salt
    • ½cup/113 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled

    For the Cake

    • cups/180 grams all-purpose flour
    • teaspoons baking powder
    • ½teaspoon baking soda
    • ½teaspoon fine sea or table salt
    • ½cup/113 grams unsalted butter, softened
    • ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
    • 2large eggs
    • 1tablespoon dark rum or vanilla extract
    • 1teaspoon finely grated lime zest
    • ½cup/118 milliliters sour cream or whole Greek yogurt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

582 calories; 31 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 69 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 35 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 417 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan or a 9-inch square metal pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.

  2. Step 2

    Prepare the pineapple: In a skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add pineapple, brown sugar, allspice and salt, and sauté until pineapple chunks are glossy and lightly browned in spots, 7 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

  3. Step 3

    Make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, almonds, candied ginger, ground ginger, cinnamon and salt. Stir in melted butter, pinching the mixture with your fingers, until ½-inch crumbs form. Set aside.

  4. Step 4

    Make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

  5. Step 5

    Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a handheld electric mixer and a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, then beat in rum and lime zest. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

  6. Step 6

    On low speed, beat in half of the flour mixture until smooth, then beat in the sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in remaining flour just until incorporated.

  7. Step 7

    Scrape batter into prepared pan. Scatter cooled pineapple evenly across the surface of the cake. Top with ginger crumb mixture.

  8. Step 8

    Bake until the center of the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
335 user ratings
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Comments

Grrrr you people….Just use the canned pineapple. (avoid the kind in syrup, use organic if available) Drain it well, pat it dry….it’ll be fine.

The recipe calls for fresh or frozen pineapple. What about canned?

Canned pineapple will have too much juice and won’t have the firmness of fresh or frozen - the canned would get mushy during carmelization

It's a decent cake, made close to the recipe. But it could be a great cake with some adjustments. The cake could use some embellishment. Moist enough, via sour cream, but with a white flour and white sugar base, it lacks personality. Swap out some flour for almond or rye flour, add more spice like cardamom or cinnamon. Lime zest did nothing. As per commenters, double/triple the amount of pineapple. Once caramelized in a pan, the fruit isn't too moist. Crumb topping needs re-working.

Excellent cake — followed the recipe closely. Increasing the amount of pineapple was my only change. It was good on Day One, even better on Day Two.

I usually don’t have problems with NYT recipes, but for some reason the cake batter exploded out of the pan! Maybe it’s because I (without thinking) pressed the crumb into the cake and so the air was trapped? Caution that is is a possibility. Right pan size too.

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