Cinnamon Roll Cake

It's no surprise that cinnamon is one of my favorite spices, so when I received my copy of The Baking Sheet, published six times a year by King Arthur Flour, I couldn't help but take notice of this recipe for Cinnamon Roll Cake.  This recipe, with some adaptations, was originally submitted to the 2012 King Arthur Flour "Great Cake Contest" by Amy Colvin of Pueblo, Colorado, where it took 1st place in their State Fair.  It reminded me a lot of the sour cream coffee cakes my mom would bake, with the exception that this one has a small box of Jell-O Vanilla pudding mixed with the dry ingredients!

Whether you like a bit of cake with your coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon, or just as a dessert, this is a winner in my book.

Cinnamon Roll Cake
Cake:
2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3-ounce box Vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup sugar
1 T ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Grease a 9 or 10-cup bundt cake pan
In a stand mixer, whisk together all the dry ingredients.  All at once add the butter, oil, eggs, vanilla, sour cream.  Mix well, the dough will be thick.

In a separate bowl, mix the 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 T cinnamon together.  Fold into the cake batter with a large spatula, leaving swirls through the batter.  Scoop half of the batter into the prepared pan.

Cinnamon Filling:
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 T cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Mix the ingredients together in a separate bowl, then, sprinkle over the batter in the pan.  Scoop the remaining batter over the filling and smooth the top.

 Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.  (Mine took exactly 45 minutes).  Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for an additional 20 minutes before flipping the cake out of the pan to finish cooling.

 Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 to 4 T heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together the glaze ingredients until smooth.  Drizzle over the cake once it's lukewarm.  Yields about 20 servings.

Amidst another tragedy in our country, I felt baking a coffee cake was a good idea; have some friends stop by and make sure you tell them how special they are to you. So, I'm telling you all, my dear friends in blogdom, that you bring joy to my life and how much I love getting to know each and every one of you.  Enjoy!