Cinnamon swirl honey bun cake (no cake mix)
No cake mix here, just a from-scratch sour cream batter with a ribbon of cinnamon and brown sugar running through every slice. The swirl is mixed dry, no butter, no nuts, so it stays suspended in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom the way a streusel does. It bakes in a standard 9x13 pan in about an hour, and you can pour on the powdered sugar glaze while it's warm or skip it and call it a coffee cake.
Servings 16
Calories 370kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter room temp
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs room temp
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup whole milk
Cinnamon Swirl:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Icing:
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt and set aside.
- Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and add eggs one at a time, beating after each until incorporated. Add vanilla and sour cream and beat until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add ½ of the dry ingredients and beat until combined, add ½ of the milk and repeat. Beat only until the flour is incorporated.
- In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Add half of the cake batter to the bottom of the pan. Smooth the top and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Dollop the remaining cake batter on top, and spread to the edges of the pan, there might be gaps. Take a knife and swirl it through the batter.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a tooth pick comes out dry. Let it sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
- In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour it over the cake while it is still warm and let it cool completely before cutting.
Notes
- A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.
- Run a butter knife through the batter in a loose zigzag, not a stir, so the cinnamon layer stays a ribbon instead of blending in.
- This cake freezes well for up to 2 months. Wrap slices individually so you can pull out just what you need.
