Scratch Cinnamon Roll Cake

Cinnamon Roll Cake, how can that be bad?  I've loved cinnamon since my early childhood.  I think the first time I ever had it was probably by way of ooey-gooey oven broiled cinnamon toast my mother made. Just plain old white bread with lots of soft butter slathered on, then topped with cinnamon and granulated sugar.  She always got it out of the oven just when the edges were beginning to toast and the middle was still soft.... right when the sugar and cinnamon got all bubbly and mixed together and became a little crusty on top, but not toasted.  Then she would take it out and flip it over for a minute to let the steam rise off the back side before giving it to us.  Loved it then, love it now!

Anyway.. I sort of went sideways there... back to center.. the Cinnamon Roll Cake! You can find the original recipe at the bottom of the post!

Credit where credit is due!  Thank you Anna.  Anna's blog can be found at

crunchycreamysweet.com

This is her recipe, not mine.  I was just fortunate enough to happen upon it!

I, as always, adapted it to my own liking. I didn't use unsalted butter, baked it in an iron skillet, and  used a different method of coating my skillet.

Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive!!!

Here's the stuff for the batter.  Just the batter!  There are three things to prepare here. The batter, the cinnamon filling (the best part, by far), and the glaze.

I'm going with my large skillet, but the original recipe called for a 9x13 baking dish.  I sprayed it generously with non-stick cooking spray.

Next, I mixed 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar, mixing it well...

and poured it right into the center of the prepared skillet.

Then just swirled it around until the entire sides and bottom were completely coated.  This way of coating the pan involves no flour, but I have never had a cake of any kind stick to the pan when I use it.  It makes for a most delightful outer crust!

Next, into a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, salt, and baking powder, then sift the flour into it.

Whisk to mix all the dry ingredients well.

Now for the wet ingredients, combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla.

Whisk until smooth,

then add the melted butter, half at a time,

Whisk again until smooth (lots of whisking here!)  Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth. This makes a thick batter.

And pour into the prepared skillet and set aside.  It's time to get to work on what has to be the best part!

For the filling, beat 2 sticks of room temperature softened butter until smooth,

add brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour...

mix well with a spoon,

and then use an electric mixer and beat about 2 minutes until smooth.

Dollop the filling onto the top of the batter by the spoonful about an inch or so away from the edge.

Gently spread it out with a butter knife or spatula.

Swirl it into circles using a butter knife. Put it in a preheated 350 degree oven.  If I were making this in a 9x13 baking dish, it would only need to bake for about 28 to 32 minutes, but since I'm using my iron skillet, the batter is much deeper and will take longer to bake.  This may or may not work out for me, but I was determined to skillet bake this thing, and this is the largest one I have!

While it bakes, I've moved on to the glaze.

Easy, simple... confectioners sugar, vanilla, milk.

All smooth and ready to go.  Now back to the cake...

It released from the skillet beautifully. I turned it out about 3 minutes after I removed it from the oven.

On with the glaze!  ALL of the glaze!

Beautiful.  The center of the cake had a nice gooey center of cinnamon goodness, but the cake layer beneath it was fully cooked. 

After letting it cool for about 5 minutes, my husband couldn't wait any longer. "CUT THAT THING"

And so, here it is. 

Next time I bake this, I will still go with the skillet method because I love the way it bakes, but I need to go get the next size up so I can reduce the baking time.  Yay, how can I possibly have too many iron skillets?  I can't!!  The cake was still moist and delish, but would have been even better if the batter wasn't quite so deep in the pan, with a shorter baking time. 

Cinnamon Roll Cake From Scratch

Ingredients / Cake:

·         3 c all-purpose flour sifted

·         1/4 tsp salt

·         1 c granulated sugar

·         4 tsp baking powder

·         1 c and 1/2 milk

·         2 large eggs

·         2 tsp vanilla extract

·         1/2 c unsalted butter melted, 1 stick

Cinnamon Filling:

·         1 c unsalted butter softened to room temperature, 2 sticks

·         1 c packed light brown sugar

·         2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

·         1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Glaze:

·         2 c powdered sugar sifted

·         5 Tbsp milk

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1.     Grease a 9"x13" cake pan. Set aside.

2.     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3.     In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.

4.     Add milk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

5.     Slowly add the melted butter and whisk until everything is smooth.

6.     Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Set aside.

7.     In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until creamy.

8.     Add sugar, flour and cinnamon and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. (It will look crumbly at first but keep beating, it will come together.)

9.     Spread the filling over the cake batter, leaving at least 1 inch of space from the edge of the pan. Swirl gently with a off-set icing spatula or a rubber spatula.

10. Bake the cake for 28 to 32 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the cake part comes out clean.

11. Cool the cake for 15 minutes. Pour the glaze over the cake and spread evenly.

Glaze:

1.     Sift the powdered sugar over a medium mixing bowl.

2.     Add vanilla and milk and whisk together until smooth and drizzling consistency. Spread over still warm cake.   Keeps covered in room temperature for up to 3 days.