Cinnamon-swirl sheet cakes made easy — Coffee Cake, Cinnamon Roll Cake, Cinnamon Coffee Cake and two takes on Honey Bun Cake, for potlucks and slow mornings.
★ breakfast
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Open in Pepper →A honey bun cake is the kind of thing you can stir together while the coffee drips: cake batter in the pan, a cinnamon-sugar swirl through the middle, and a thin glaze poured over while it's still warm so it soaks in.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these when company is coming and there's no time to fuss, when the church breakfast needs something to slice, or when a Saturday just calls for something sweet on the counter.
Every recipe here is a swirled, glazed sheet cake — a well-loved Coffee Cake, a Cinnamon Roll Cake, a Cinnamon Coffee Cake made from scratch with flour and baking soda, and two Honey Bun Cakes built on a box of yellow cake mix with sour cream and oil.
Swirl, don't stir
Drop the cinnamon-sugar over half the batter, add the rest, then drag a knife through 3 or 4 times so you keep distinct ribbons.
Glaze it warm
Pour the powdered sugar glaze over the cake within 5 to 10 minutes of taking it out so it sinks into the top instead of sitting on it.
Use room temperature eggs
Set eggs and sour cream out 30 minutes ahead; cold ingredients make a lumpy batter that bakes unevenly.
Check at 35 minutes
A 9x13 sheet cake is usually done between 35 and 40 minutes — a toothpick in the center should come out with just a few moist crumbs.