Monday, November 18, 2013

"Cinnabon" Cinnamon Roll Cake

I've been craving cinnamon rolls for several weeks now (and actually have a homemade cinnamon roll recipe bookmarked on my computer, where it haunts me daily), but I don't have the patience for yeast recipes when all I want is a classic sugar/butter fix. Then I found this recipe at work. It's on a piece of printer paper, so I have no idea where it's from or who should get credit for it.

Don't let the lengthy ingredient list scare you--while this is a three part cake: actual cake, cinnamon marble swirl, vanilla glaze--mostly it's just butter and sugar repeating itself in different magical combinations. The measurements for the cinnamon left me with a LOT of marble swirl, which some might like, but I found to be a bit excessive. I baked mine for a solid 30 minutes, and it needed a few extra minutes to firm up.

If by some chance you don't eat it all in one sitting (or your roommates are counting calories and refuse to be seduced by the sugary madness, leaving you to finish an entire cake on your own), just reheat it in the microwave before eating. This cake is perfect in the morning with your coffee, or for lunch, or even as a bedtime snack for those of you who like to enter dreamland via sugar rush/crash.

Ingredients
Cake:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp butter, melted

Swirl:
1 cup (Yes, that's two sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp cinnamon

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
5 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
With an electric mixer, mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Once combined well, slowly stir in 4 tbsp melted butter. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

Using the same bowl, mix together two sticks softened butter, brown sugar, remaining flour, and cinnamon until well combined. Drop evenly over cake batter and use a knife to swirl.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle (pro tip: insert into cake part, not marble part) comes out nearly clean.

While cake bakes, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. (I again used the same bowl...we're baking a cake, not testing out all of our bowls.) Drizzle over warm cake, serve immediately.

No comments:

Post a Comment