This is a quite popular breakfast cake. The availability of a recipe is quite popular too. I have been making this cake for quite some time with the recipe from a Betty Crocker cake mix cookbook. It is also on their website, and on other blogs and sites. You may also see it named cinnamon roll cake (check out the link, great blog!). No matter what, it is a very simple recipe to throw together with very few ingredients. I am going to make it soon with a from scratch cake mix, I just didn’t have a lot of spare time this morning to do so.

Oh, one more note. There are some minor variations to this recipe out there in the foodie world. Betty Crocker says to use 2/3 cup oil, others use 3/4 cup oil and some even use applesauce to replace some or all of the oil. I haven’t done the applesauce method with this cake, but I have with others and it lends a very moist cake. As for the oil, I have used both amounts and haven’t seen any real difference. It is personal preference I guess. Betty also adds half the batter then the brown sugar/cinnamon, then tops with the remaining batter. I think it is easier to swirl it, as the batter is very thick.

Honey Bun Cake 

adapted slightly from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

• 1 Yellow cake mix
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans (I don’t use)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: 

Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan, or a Bundt pan.

Stir cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream until well combined. Spread the batter in the pan.

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon (pecans if using) and sprinkle over the top of the cake. Use a knife to swirl the sugar mixture throughout the batter. Note, the batter is really thick, but the more you swirl, the better your cake.

Bake for 30 minutes or until brown. Remove the cake from the oven and let stand for about 10 minutes before icing. I like to poke holes throughout the cake while warm so the icing can soak into the cake.

For the icing, combine the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Add more milk or sugar as needed. Add vanilla if desired. (I don’t usually add it). Pour the icing over warm cake and serve.

Today we celebrated Kenzie’s birthday with the family. I used my new baking pan by Wilton to begin her Panda Cake. Lesson #1 – If you spray the pan with baking spray, don’t add flour too. I ended up with a faceless panda. I could have patched it, but didn’t feel like it, so I crumpled up my first cake, and used it for dessert. Vanilla cake goes very well as a strawberry shortcake. I still had to bake another cake however.

My pantry and fridge had dwindled down. I had no eggs, no bread, no flour etc… so I settled for a Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake mix. Kenzie is not a big fan of chocolate, but she didn’t have a choice here. This time I just used the cooking spray and the cake came out of the pan perfectly. I let it rest overnight and began frosting it this morning.

Perfection in cake decorating is afar off for me, but it works, and the kids thought it turned out well. We went easy and had Papa Johns Pizza. I threw in a Caesar Salad, then we had cake and ice cream. I can take a birthday rest now until July.

She insisted on only having three candles…

 More Peeps Stuff!

I saw this last Easter in a Taste of Home Magazine and bought all the necessary ingredients to make it. Well, it never got made in 2008. So this year I bought the ingredients again (Peeps) determined to complete the task… and I did! It was really cool! The cake was a box mix, but doctored. The frosting however, was Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 Box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden Cake
• 4 large eggs
• 1 pack vanilla instant pudding mix (4 serving size)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 18 – 20 Yellow Peeps Chicks*
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips, regular and mini

Cake Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9″ round cake pans, though I used three 8″ pans for a taller cake.

Combine all of the ingredients and mix for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Divide into pans and bake for 20-25 minutes (or until it’s done). Remove, cool layers in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter, melted (1/2 cup)
• 2/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

 Sunflower Peeps Cake:

Prepare cake and frost. Place Peeps Chicks around the border of the frosted cake (face in). Using regular size chocolate chips, form rings in the center of the cake. For the last few rings, use miniature chocolate chips. *The Taste of Home recipe says not to separate the chicks… but I found they wanted to keep “bouncing back” to shape…so i ended up separating them.

For the past seven weeks, my son has been studying our state (Florida) at school. This is always a big project for the 4th grade that is culminated by an entire day known as “Florida Day” and a field trip to the Nation’s Oldest City – St. Augustine. Florida Day is comprised mainly of foods native to Florida such as gator tail, shrimp, oranges, strawberries and of course Key Limes – which was my assigned dish.

While Key Lime Pie is native of Florida, I didn’t know how much interest a room full of 10 year olds would have, so I threw together some mini cupcakes… a sure fire hit with kids. This was also extremely last minute, so I did with what I had… both time and product. Here is what I made:

Key Lime Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 oz) box white cake mix (& the ingredients called for)
• 1 (4 serv.) box lime jello mix
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup ice water
• 4 – 5 key limes, or 2 regular
• 1 batch cream cheese frosting (I used a tub)

Directions:

Prepare cake mix as directed. Stir in the zest of one lime (less if using regular limes). Bake as directed for mini, or regular size cupcakes. Remove from oven and poke holes in each cupcake with a toothpick or small skewer. Once the cakes have cooled, prepare the jello: Pour 1 cup boiling water over mix and stir until dissolved, then add one cup ice cold water. Spoon liquid over cupcakes and place in the fridge for a few hours, until the jello has set. Remove and frost. Garnish as desired.

For the frosting, I stirred in a little jello powder that I had reserved. It gave the cream cheese frosting the nice lime hew. I also stirred in more lime zest to enhance the flavor of the key lime, then piped the frosting onto the cupcakes and garnished with a slice of the lime. I was very pleased with how they turned out… and my son brought back an empty dish…