I was so looking forward to making this month's Cinnamon Pudding Cake. The weather is lovely here in the Appalachian mountains. Temperatures are in the low 60's in the daytime and near freezing at night so we have had a spectacular autumn.
Cinnamon Pudding Cake seemed perfect for a cool fall night and I lined up my ingredients in antipation of making a delicious dessert for my family. After combing through suggestions from others on this blog, I made some minor adjustments (added more water and sugar to the pudding and also added an egg) to the recipe (posted below).
The cake went together beautifully. I carefully buttered the pan figuring that a pudding topping would make a sticky mess (boy was I right about that). After creaming the butter and sugar, I added an egg and combined the dry and wet ingredients in the usual cake manner (beginning and ending with dry).
I was quite skeptical about pouring the pudding atop the batter but forged ahead recklessly. The recipe said the pan would be very full but mine was not. I baked the cake in a 350 oven for 40 minutes, checking after 30 and 35 minutes to test for doneness.
After letting the cake cool (albeit maybe too long; probably about 30 minutes instead of 15 because I lost track of time), the moment had come for the unmolding. Yuck! I had a cake completely stuck to the pan and the topping was a gelatinous mess that I managed to scrape out and sort of glop onto the cake.
The cake itself was as dry as toast and the topping so sparse that it couldn't make up for the dryness. I ended up throwing the whole mess out, which is unusual for me since I will almost always eat something sweet.
I have made other cakes from this cookbook and have been successful with three so far: The Apple and Cheddar Cheese Cake; Chocolate Caramel Banana Upside Down Cake; and Chocolate Gingerbread which we had for dessert tonight.
Here's the recipe for Cinnamon Pudding Cake
For the caramel topping
1 cup plus 2 T packet light brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1 T unsalted butter
For the cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t baking poder
2 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
2 T unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 t vanilla extract
Make the topping
Preheat the oven to 350. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray (spray VERY liberally)
Combine the brown sugar, water, butter and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Set aside to cool.
Make the cake
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes (I added an egg after this step)
Add the dry ingredients and the milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
Scrape batter into prepared pan. Pour the topping over the batter (the pan should be very full but mine was not). Bake until set 40-45 minutes.
Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a large rimmed platter. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
