No, I didn't buy a bunch of honey buns and throw them in a baking dish!

Honey Bun Cake is one treat I remember fondly from my teenage years. It was a dessert I only had at church functions, courtesy of our pastor's wife. Until now, since I have the recipe myself!

A few months back, the boyfriend's aunt made him a delicious honey bun cake and shared the recipe with me. Until a week or so ago, the poor little recipe went unused. When a potluck was planned and it was time for me to step up with a great dish, I drew a blank. Someone mentioned a honey bun cake and I decided to take on the endeavor for the first time.

It really was a fairly painless process, easy and straightforward.



The end result was pretty delicious, and a hit among fellow potluckers. See the yummy, swirly inside? It's much better than a store-bought honey bun. Here's the recipe!

Honey Bun Cake

Ingredients
CAKE
1 box yellow Betty Crocker cake mix
3/4 cup Crisco Oil (I was told only Crisco!)
4 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla (get the good stuff or you can taste the difference)
1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Mix first 5 ingredients together. Pour half of batter into 9x13 pan sprayed with Pam (I was told to use a glass baking dish but I used one of those disposable aluminum ones for the party). Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture over batter. Swirl with a fork. Pour other half of batter on top. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. Swirl with a fork. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

GLAZE
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix ingredients together and pour over hot cake.

Here is my review on the baking process:

• First, I did not have quality vanilla and I could taste the difference. Get the good stuff.

• Second, putting half of the sugar and pecans in the middle and half on top caused my top to be uneven and bumpy. Therefore, I needed more glaze to cover and it didn't make a pretty top. I think next time I will put all of the sugary goodness in the middle. But, I think I will pour about 2/3 of the cake in first, then swirl because the swirling is hard when there's not much mix.
  

• Third, my cake took a bit longer than 40 minutes -- the middle would not cook! Don't be alarmed if you need longer as well. But, the longer cook time did not take away the moistness of the cake, probably thanks mostly to the sour cream.

Try it yourself and let me know how it turns out. But, don't blame me when you become addicted!