Honey Bun Cake

I can't decide if this is a dessert or a breakfast...

Its sweet enough and satisfying enough to fulfill that after dinner sugar craving, but it also sings of cinnamon and brown sugar and that delicious icing I associate with donuts and cinnamon rolls. 

Its a toss up, I tell you.  I've been eating it at night after the kids go to bed, because I want to be able to savor every bite.  And, as anyone with kids can tell you, when there are children present whilst eating, meals are just a shovefest that happens between calls of, "Eat your peas!" and, "Get your finger out of your nose!"

Or maybe that's just my house.

Anyway, I ate this cake for lunch the other day.  It seemed like the right thing to do. 

And maybe I'm eating some right now.  At 2:21 in the afternoon.  Is that so bad?

Here's what you need:

a yellow cake mix, 4 eggs, 2/3 cup of vegetable oil, and 1 cup of sour cream.  Ignore the ingredients list on the back of the box and just combine all of these things together in a large bowl or stand mixer.  Beat it until its nice and smooth, about 2 minutes.  I should note that I considered substituting the oil for butter because, after all, it is a "butter golden" mix.  But I was good.  And I didn't.  But I wonder how much more delicious it would be if I had....  mmm, the richness...  the buttery goodness...

Snap out of it, Heather!

I get carried away sometimes. 

Set your cake batter to the side and prepare the filling.

You'll need brown sugar,

chopped pecans,

and cinnamon.

Stir this together until you get a streusel type mixture.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour in half the cake batter, making sure to spread it all around the bottom of the dish.

Sprinkle on the filling

until it completely covers the bottom half of the cake.

Pour on the rest of the cake batter making sure to drizzle it all over the pecan filling.  You can use a spatula to try to spread the batter to cover up the holes, but avoid this if possible.  Too much spreading will disturb the filling.

Pop that in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  Just before its ready to come out, make the icing.

In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar,

vanilla,

(sorry about the terrible focus) and milk.

Stir this until it becomes thick, but still runny.

Take your warm cake out of the oven

and immediately drizzle the icing all over the top.

Gently spread this with a spatula evenly over the top.  You'll have to work quickly, it will start to set in about a minute.

You'll have to resist the urge to cut this immediately.  It won't be easy. 

After about an hour (okay, so I caved after about 35 minutes) it will be cool enough to handle and the icing will have started to settle into the cake. 

Now is the time to dive in!  This cake is so moist because of the sour cream, so comforting because of the cinnamon and brown sugar, and so ridiculously addicting because you can justify eating if for breakfast!



Honey Bun Cake Recipe
1 box of yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
2/3 c. vegetable oil

for the filling:
1 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. chopped pecans

for the icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
2-3 tbsp milk (depending on how thick you like it)

Combine cake mix with eggs, sour cream, and oil.  Beat until batter is smooth.
Make the filling by combining all filling ingredients and mixing well.
Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour in half the batter.  Sprinkle with filling and pour on remaining batter.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.
Make the icing by combining all icing ingredients in a small bowl and mixing until smooth and desired consistency is reached.  When cake comes out of the oven, immediately pour icing all over the top, making sure to coat the entire surface.  Cool for 1 hour.