have your cake...

...and cinnamon roll too.


Cinnamon. Roll. Cake. Can you believe I only made this for the first time a few weeks ago? There's no excuse for my behavior--it's completely unacceptable. To ignore such a magnificent and effortless creation is a travesty, plain and simple. As punishment, I should be force-fed more cake. That'll teach me.

All right, so it doesn't really taste like a cinnamon roll--there's no bready, yeasty characteristic of which to speak. In fact, upon my first bite, I immediately likened it to the warm cinnamon roll shooters from Chili's. Have you tried them? As far as I can tell, those little cups of heaven consist of layers of streuseled coffee cake and cinnamon-powdered sugar glaze. (Not a bad idea, right? Kudos, Chili's!)


Even though this cake is clearly different from your standard cinnamon roll in texture and flavor, it's similar in that cinnamon is the star (as it should be). When you hit a pocket of that sugary cinnamon streusel while also getting a taste of the cake and glaze, the result is a perfect sweet and spicy bite.

Did I like this? I think it's fairly obvious that the answer is a resounding YES.

Cinnamon Roll Shooters in Cake Form
Cake:
1 box of yellow cake mix
4 eggs
¾ cup oil
1 cup sour cream (I used 1 cup of yogurt + 1 teaspoon of baking soda)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3-4 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.
Mix the first four ingredients by hand and pour into the prepared pan.
In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the cake batter. Swirl decoratively with a knife.
Bake for 40-50 minutes and let it cool briefly before adding the icing.
To make the icing, stir together the sugar and milk until smooth, adding more milk as needed. Pour over the warm cake.