Saturday, June 16, 2012

Mmmm... Something Smells Good In the Kitchen


It was a little crazy the 2nd half of last week. I had 2 orders on Friday and 1 on Saturday morning so I was baking Wednesday night and Thursday night as well and I haven't had much sleep. It's a real struggle to juggle work and this but there are just times when I can't say no especially to friends. I am too tired to bake when I get home from work and it's usually at 2 or 3AM that I find the energy to bake these days. I know I'm weird but I feel better once I'm a little rested. 

I made this for a friend who loves cinnamon. Who doesn't?! The smell of cinnamon (and also apples!) baking in the oven is so heavenly and irresistible! I divided the recipe in half since my electric oven isn't big enough to fit in a 9x13 inch pan and I had to use a 9x9inch pan instead. The cake was really moist. I have to give a bit of a warning though. The bottom of the cake was quite oily after baking so I had to put it on tissues to blot it out a bit. The cinnamon sugar butter swirls sank into the cake and created a nice yellow / gooey brown contrast on the sides when you slice it. And the glaze, well, it's extra icing on top! 

This cake has all the flavors of your favorite cinnamon roll made EASY and without all the trouble. Check out Jamie's guaranteed drool-worthy photos too on the link below!


CINNAMON ROLL CAKE
recipe first seen at Jamie Cooks It Up, adapted from Picky Palate

Dry
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Wet
1 egg
3/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted

Cinnamon Filling
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1tbsp + 11/2 tsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2.5 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper. 

Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together except for the melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently with a hand whisk until well combined. Slowly add the melted butter and mix until just combined. Spread the batter out evenly in the pan.

Make the cinnamon filling. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the cake batter. Using a butter knife or the end of a spoon in my case (I didn't have a butter knife), swirl the cinnamon filling around the cake batter to get a marbled effect. 

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Make the glaze. Mix all the glaze ingredients together in a bowl. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake. You may put the cake in the fridge but let it come to room temperature first before serving.

I am getting hungry just by looking at this photo! Definitely NEED to make this again! This looks too good to pass up!
Just look at that gooey cinnamon filling!