Crack Cake

6:30 am Saturday morning.  Connie's snoring.  I'm wide awake.  Might as well get up and be productive.  Sign on to the office and the internet is slow as molasses in January.  Well, that's not going to work.  How about writing a blog post?  OMG!  Monday is Secret Recipe Club reveal day.  I'd better get my tookus in gear and write my post.  My dish got made right after receiving my assigned blog, Making Memories with Your Kids.  Then the cord that connects my camera to the computer to download photos quit working and I wasn't able to download photos from that camera...  SRC didn't even dawn on me. 

Finally, I said something to my photography buff, business partner Jay and he said all you need is a card reader.  Cool!  He promptly took the card out of my camera, carried it to his office and downloaded my photos to our server.  Only problem is that blogger doesn't like my office computer and I've not been able to upload photos from there.  I'd still have to buy a card reader for home.  Still, to say thank you, we stopped at our favorite bakery, Taylors, and got Jay a box of cookies.  And, crispies for ourselves.  Annie was most entranced by the crispies!  As you can see...

I had a lot of fun reading Erin's blog.  She's a middle school counselor and single mom to two kids.  And, she has a lot of kid-friendly recipes.  I was actually looking for a dessert this time since we were going to a pitch-in at our friend Chef Joseph and his husband Juan's.  We rarely ever make or eat dessert so this was going to be a real treat.  It needed to be something super easy and super flavorful.  I read Erin's comment that the cake reminded her of a Snickerdoodle.  Sold.  My grandmother used to fill the big, green cookie jar with Snickerdoodles.   

The cake was made and taken to Joseph's.  Where there was a WHOLE table full of desserts.  We had to leave relatively early so I just left the platter et all.  I tend to buy really cheap platters just for that.  Either at Goodwill or The Christmas Tree Store.  You can get them for $1 or so and it makes it REALLY easy not to worry about a dish.  Our friends Pete and Roby taught us that trick.  Pete's known for her fabulous rum cake... 

Fast forward to our pitch-in...  Juan and I were standing in my kitchen as I gathered up dishes folks had left.  Most of the leftovers were in disposable foil containers or plastic containers.  But, one slice of Pete's rum cake was sitting on the platter they'd left.  So, I told Juan I'd done the same thing at their house.  He said, "That was your cake?  That was SO good!!!  I really loved eating all the leftovers!!"  LOL!  Erin's Crack Cake has yet another fan :-)  Here's a link to her recipe:  Crack Cake.

Yes, we loved this.  It's so incredibly easy to put together.  And, the cinnamon did remind me of my grandmother's Snickerdoodle cookies.  Wonder how long Connie's going to sleep and if I've got time to go bake some Snickerdoodles?  Nah, probably not.

Crack Cake

Ingredients:

for the cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 box instant vanilla pudding
2 t cinnamon
4 eggs
3/4 c water
3/4 c vegetable oil
1/2 c white wine (I used chardonnay)

for the glaze:
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1/4 c white wine

Directions::

This bakes at 350, so preheat your oven as you start the cake.  Combine the cake ingredients and mix well.  Erin called for a stand mixer.  I used a handheld mixer.  Either works.  Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until it tests done with a cake tester or toothpick.  Right before you remove the cake from the oven, melt the butter for the glaze.  Add in the sugar and stir until it's fully dissolved.  Then, pour in the white wine. 

Use a cake tester to punch loads of holes in the cake.  That way all the goodness of the glaze and soak in thoroughly.  Remove the cake from the oven and pour the glaze over the top. 

Allow the cake to cool before inverting it onto a plate. 

Thanks to Erin from Making Memories with Your Kids for a yummy and easy recipe!


 

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