Big Mama’s Cinnamon Roll Cake

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If there’s one treat guaranteed to vanish from the table, it’s cinnamon rolls. Soft, sweet, and swirled with spice, they’re irresistible—but making them from scratch can feel like a marathon. Yeast, rising, rolling, baking, icing… it’s a lot.
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This recipe skips the fuss and delivers the same cinnamon roll magic in cake form. Moist, tender, and swirled with cinnamon-sugar, it’s a shortcut that tastes like tradition. The original recipe went viral after being shared online, and once you try it, you’ll understand why.
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Big Mama’s Cinnamon Roll Cake
Ingredients
| Cake | |
|---|---|
| Crisco or shortening | ½ cup |
| Granulated sugar | 1½ cups |
| Eggs | 4 |
| Buttermilk | 1 cup |
| Vanilla extract | 2 tsp |
| All-purpose flour | 2 cups |
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp |
| Salt | ½ tsp |
| Filling | |
|---|---|
| Brown sugar | ½ cup |
| Ground cinnamon | 4 tsp |
| Icing | |
|---|---|
| Powdered sugar | 2 cups |
| Unsalted butter | 3 tbsp |
| Milk | ¼ cup |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp |
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×13-inch deep baking pan.
- Make the cake batter:
- Cream sugar and shortening with an electric mixer.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing until pale and frothy.
- Stir in buttermilk and vanilla.
- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into the wet mixture; stir until smooth.
- Layer and swirl:
- Pour half the batter into the pan.
- Mix filling ingredients and sprinkle evenly over batter.
- Add remaining batter on top.
- Use a butter knife to swirl filling through the cake—don’t fully mix.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Prepare icing: While cake bakes, heat icing ingredients in a small saucepan over low until smooth.
- Finish: Poke holes in the warm cake with a fork or spoon handle. Pour icing over the top so it seeps into the cake.
- Cool for 20 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.
This cake delivers all the gooey, cinnamon-sugar comfort of a cinnamon roll—without the hours of work. Slice it up, and watch it disappear just as quickly as the real thing.




