Cinnamon Roll Cake

Would you believe that the first time I made this cake was the first time I'd ever made a cake from scratch? Sad, I know. I've also only made brownies from scratch once in my life. It was on a date in college... and the guy actually did most of the work. They were dang good though, as was this cake. Luckily, my sister made it first and told me that she accidentally overcooked it by a few minutes... and that it ended up being a good thing because it wouldn't have been done otherwise. She also said that it was pretty good, but that she'd rather have a cinnamon roll. I adore cinnamon rolls, but I am very lazy and impatient when it comes to all that kneading and waiting for the dough to rise. So, I gave this recipe a go.

Cake:
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Topping:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla


While warm drizzle the glaze over the cake.


At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the cake. It was good, but it was weird having something that tasted so much like a cinnamon roll be a cake instead. However, by the end of my piece of cake, I wanted another piece. And then I wanted another. Luckily I stopped myself before I made myself sick. :-) And my husband? He absolutely loved it, so much so that he brought a huge slice over to his friend. And I'm pretty sure his friend also loved it.

Anyway, I think that if you stuck a cinnamon roll and a slice of this cake in front of me, I'd choose the cinnamon roll, (cinnamon rolls are just so freaking delicious) but if I had to make one or the other, most times I'd make this. It's easier, and still way good. So yes, I highly recommend it.

Oh! And I cooked mine about a minute or two longer than the recipe calls for because of what my sister said about accidentally leaving it in the oven too long and that being a good thing, and it ended up perfect. However, watch it closely if you do this! You definitely don't want to overcook it.