It sounds like too much moisture, and there could be several ways to adjust it. The brand of applesauce you use may have too much liquid or the applesauce is so fine it's nearly liquid (like that "sippy" applesauce). Try making homemade applesauce for the recipe that isn't as liquidy and more coarse; possibly even reducing the amount by 1/4-cup. Two cups seems like a lot, but I haven't checked other recipes to find something similar.... I would not only drain the crushed pineapple, I would press any additional moisture out of it with paper towels. Crushed canned pineapple also seems to be overly processed these days - less fruit and more liquid in the cans. While there was a lot of zapping of can sizes of food in the last 8-years, canned fruit has more liquid and less fruit - as well as changing the can sizes.

If that doesn't give you a better result, I would suggest using less applesauce and compare some recipes to see if the amount should be 1-cup.

Are you using extra-large eggs or large eggs? That can also alter some recipes due to increased liquid.

-Grainlady

Thanks to both of you who have replied. First off they were large eggs but will definitely try maybe adding one extra since they don't seem so big. The applesauce is the canned variety so maybe a 1/4 cup reduction is in order. The pineapple is an 8 oz. can that I drained well but will try to towel it even more dry. I've not refrigerated a cake overnight but will give it a try.

Just curious but would cutting the soda in half keep the cake from rising as well as it has been?

I'll definitely let you know how it comes out the next time.

I make a very fruit filled cake with no leavening at all.....very dense....not crumbly...but a very dense cake.
You also might try cooking it longer.....or in a a layer cake pan.

I may have made the wrong assumption, was it a dry crumbly or moist crumbly? I thought it was crumbly from being too moist, but now I need to make sure after thinking about it again. If it's from being too moist, I wouldn't use larger eggs, or an extra egg.

--Are there tunnels channeling through the cake crumb? That means the batter was over-mixed or there was too much egg.

--Cracks on top can mean:

*It was over-mixed. Don't use an electric mixer - use a Danish Dough Whisk or a wooden spoon to help prevent over-mixing the batter and developing too much gluten. Or if you use an electric mixer, only mix the dry ingredients in until they are incorporated, and no more than that)

*The batter was too firm.

*Can be due to too all the add-ins.

*Too much leavening.

*Oven door opened too early.

I would cream the fat and sugar, then add the eggs and mix lightly, and finally the applesauce; not all together as the instructions indicate. I bet that one change would improve the cake.

Did you need to let the cake "ripen" due to the high concentration of fruit before slicing it?

-Grainlady

No suggestions on the crumbles other than maybe adding more eggs.

About crushed pineapple....I don't buy crushed pineapple anymore after getting a couple of cans of 'crushed' than more closely resembled pineapple sauce. Instead, I get the pineapple 'tidbits' to use instead of crushed pineapple.

The cake sounds absolutely delicious.

The ingredients and proportions look very similar to a carrot cake recipe I have, but with applesauce instead of carrots. For that amount of flour, sugar and butter, my cake would have used 4 eggs. Mine is also baked at a higher temperature in a shallower pan.

I've never heard of "ripening" a cake. What exactly does that mean? I do know that my sister said something about they didn't use to cut the cake until after about three days. Now that you've mentioned this I'm betting that's what's wrong. Do you ripen in the fridge or not? Wrapped in saran wrap? I really do appreciate all of the suggestions and will continue to work on this cake. Thanks again to you all!!

I agree....I suggested wrapping and refrigerating.....but "ripening" is a better word.