I am back among the living and the flu seems to be gone, at least I hope so – 10 days is enough. This morning I wanted to make a nice southern comfort food that was sweet and reminded me of spring because these dark dreary days are getting on my last nerve. Sock It To Me Cake, what my Aunt Irene always made for Easter Sunday lunch, seemed to fit the bill just fine! There’s no doubt this cake is rich – very rich – but not in the sickening too-much-icing rich. It’s more buttery cinnamon luscious cake rich. There are many versions out there and most start with a cake mix but not this one. Come to think of it, I never saw a cake mix in Aunt Irene’s pantry.
Ingredients for cake:
2 Sticks Butter, softened
2 Cups White Sugar
1 Cup Sour Cream
6 Eggs room temperature
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
Ingredients for filling:
¾ Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Pecans, chopped
2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 Stick Butter, softened
Ingredients for glaze:
1 ½ Cups powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk
1 Tablespoon Vanilla (I use clear but Aunt Irene just used regular vanilla)
1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
Directions:
Set oven to preheat at 350F.
Grease and flour your bundt pan.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt – set aside.
Roughly chop pecans and mix all filling ingredients together, set aside.
Using a hand mixer, whip sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add 1 egg at a time mixing well between eggs.
Mix in sour cream and vanilla.
Add flour mixture in a little at a time mixing only until blended.
Spoon ½ of cake mixture into bottom of bundt pan.
Spoon filling around center of cake.
Spoon second ½ of cake mixture over top of filling making sure no filling creeps out.
Set pan on a cookie sheet and set in pre-heated oven until a toothpick comes out clean. Aunt Irene’s directions said for 1 to 1 hour 15 minutes but my cake was completely done in 40 minutes so be sure to start checking about 35 minutes or so in.
When done, take the cake out and allow to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then flip it onto serving platter and allow to cool another 20 minutes.
In the meantime, mix up the glaze with a fork and drizzle over the top of the cake and you are done.
I hope you enjoy this retro cake that, to me, is a sign of spring!
