Honey Bun Cake

This delicious coffee cake will surely brighten your morning.... a perfect companion to a great cup of coffee.  Honey Bun Cakes have been around forever.. and surprisingly.. the recipes are all almost identical.... this recipe is from Betty Crocker's Soul Food Collection... and uses a shortcut by using boxed cake mix.

I only changed a few of things...

TIPS

The original recipe called for 1 container (8 oz.) sour cream.. I used 1 cup of buttermilk... I like baking with buttermilk and .. honestly.. I had some in the fridge that I wanted to use up... it makes a wonderful cake.. very light.. but feel free to use sour cream in its place in my recipe.

I left out the 1/3 cup pecans in my cake.. because we have a nut issue here... I love pecans and it is delicious in this cake.. but the cake is just as good without them.. so you decide whether or not to add them.

I made 1 1/2 times the original icing (the recipe below is the adjusted amounts)... the original amount just wasn't enough... in fact... it probably could use a little more...

The original instructions say to prick the cake with a fork and then spread the icing over it... mine was fairly thick and by no means went into the holes... and my cake was right out of the oven when I spread the icing on it.. it thinned out a bit with the warm cake.. but not enough to go into the holes... so if you want it to go into the holes.. you will probably have to thin it with additional milk.

A reader on the Betty Crocker site commented that she heated a can of white frosting and used that to ice the cake.. an excellent idea.. I've done that in the past with other cakes and will do that when I make this one again.

Try this.. it takes little prep and is delicious!

Recipe:  Honey Bun Cake

All you need:

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist yellow cake mix

2/3 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk *See TIPS

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2  tablespoons milk (eyeball it)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

All you have to do:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 degrees F for a dark or non-stick pan).

Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 13 pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, eggs, oil and buttermilk on low speed until just mixed, about 30 seconds.  Then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Scrape the bowl occasionally.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans (if using pecans).  Spread half the batter into the prepared pan and then sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the batter... then spread the remaining batter over the brown sugar mixture.

Bake 44-48 minutes or until deep golden brown (mine was very deep brown). 

Just before the cake is to come out of the oven...

In a small bowl combine the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and stir until thin enough to spread.  Spread the icing on the cake just after it comes out of the oven when it's still very warm. 

Cool completely.

Store covered.