Pineapple Macadamia Nut Cake with Key Lime Curd

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Typically, I refer to the things I bake in mini loaf pans as “bread” – banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, etc. Let’s be clear, though. This is cake, not bread. Deb of Smitten Kitchen recently discussed the fine line between, as she put it, “Acceptable for Breakfast” and “Nope, This Is Dessert,” and I defer to her judgment, especially in this case, given that this bread cake (ugh! I keep slipping up and doing that!) is based on a recipe she created, called Grapefruit Yogurt Cake.

This cake is a little slice of tropical paradise. I whipped up some key lime curd to swirl throughout the batter, used crushed pineapple in place of some of the oil from the original recipe (substituting applesauce is a more traditional move, but using pineapple works just as well), and threw in some macadamia nuts, and the result? A deliciously moist yet fluffy cake with a smooth crunchiness (is that an oxymoron?) from the macadamia nuts and a hint of tang from the lime curd. *swoon*

That said, taking these pictures was NOT a little slice of tropical paradise. I really hope you like the photos, because I nearly got frostbite in the process of taking them. Up until now, I’d been using an old flood lamp that my grandfather used for home videos, but it finally decided it had had enough and promptly ceased to work, juuuuust when I had things arranged to my liking and had found a good angle. D’oh. The only other artistically-viable option was to move things outside onto the balcony for what remained of the afternoon’s natural lighting. And uh, I live in Michigan. If you’ve been living under (a very warm) rock lately and haven’t heard about the nasty cold weather sweeping much of the country, I’ll fill you in: it’s #@$&-ing cold! After 4 minutes of standing outside in very windy 20-below conditions, I had satisfactory photos but no sensation in two of my fingers. Several hours later, and they almost feel normal, but still not quite.

At least I have cake, though. And now I’m going to go have a slice of cake and think about buying some new lighting equipment.