I got this amazing recipe years ago from my mother-in-law. It's my go to recipe when taking food to a friend because they can eat it as dessert or save it for breakfast in the morning. I make it without nuts or raisins because I don't like them and then I also don't have to worry about allergy issues with others. This cake is delicious both cold or warm.
1 2 Layer Yellow Cake Mix 1
Cup Buttermilk
4 Eggs ¾
Cup Oil
½ Cup Sugar ½
Cup Chopped Pecans
¾ Cup Packed Brown Sugar *1/4
Cup Raisins-Optional
4 Teaspoons Cinnamon 2
Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk 1
Teaspoon Vanilla
Combine cake mix, buttermilk, eggs, oil, and sugar in mixer
bowl; beat for 2 minutes. Spoon into
greased 9x13” cake pan. Mix pecans,
brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon in bowl.
Sprinkle over cake batter. Cut
through with a knife to swirl. Bake at
350° until cake tests done. Combine
confectioner’s sugar, milk, and vanilla in bowl, mix well (Add more milk to
achieve desired icing consistency).
Spread over hot cake.
* May omit raisins or substitute dates.
If you're like me, you don't keep Buttermilk on hand. I discovered a few years ago that there is a dry buttermilk mix in the baking aisle at the store. So now I always have buttermilk on hand.
A few side notes to this recipe...I bake it for 5-10 minutes longer than the cake mix box says. I'd start with 5 and go from there. For the icing, I usually end up with about 3 tablespoons of milk. 2 Tablespoons leaves you with very thick icing, you want it to be easy to spread and to sort of spread on it's own with the help of the hot cake, but you don't want it so thin that it's pouring over the sides of the cake. Hope that makes sense.
