New! New Cookie! Hummingbird Jones

Roasted pineapple, banana, cinnamon, cream cheese frosting and the Jonesing atop

In mid-January, I made a new, improved version (to my taste, that is) of Hummingbird Cake* for the birthday of my friend Chun Ming, with whom I play Mahjongg occasionally. Previously I made the classic version with canned, crushed pineapple and roasted pecans last year but with Ermine frosting. This year I bought fresh pineapple, roasted it and cut it into small cubes instead of the canned pineapple, and I made a lovely cream cheese frosting for the top along with a visit of Lady Lolita VandenBug. It was absolutely scrumptious. After everyone at the party had a piece and my three Chinese ladies had slices to take home to family, there was none left to share with my sister and daughter.

By the way, it just so happened that a very charming Chinese electrician (who was installing new, safer electric sockets throughout the building) was in my kitchen as I was plating the Hummingbird Joneses for gifts to my Chinese ladies at Mahjongg. I offered him a cookie and he had two and said mmm-mmm. We got chatting and I found out he was originally from Shanghai which is the first of the cities in China that my daughter and I plan to visit this autumn. I welcomed a great discussion and perusing photos he takes when he and his family here in Seattle go to Shanghai to visit his mother. (I hope to find him here next week when I’m planning what I’ll call an unexpected and very unusual cake for most Americans. Readers will be surprised.)

This cake inspired the new Hummingbird Jones.

I think it’s my new favorite cake. The little cubes of pineapple (which offer a surprising pop) with banana and cinnamon and cream cheese frosting had me dreaming of an experiment with the cake staples in a Jones setting. I wanted a soft, iced Jones cookie in a combo I’d never tried before.

And so it was, and is. I froze one cookie for the freezer test which all my Joneses must pass. It passed. I froze half the dough to bake for my next visit with my sister in Bremerton, perhaps later this month if my two broken ankles are healed enough for substantial walking and an all day long round-trip. I was planning on St. Patrick’s Day but we’ll see what the bone doc says next week.