Sock It To Me Cake
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This recipe originally appeared on my food blog, where it received rave reviews. It is now available exclusively on Substack for supporting members. Here’s what two readers had to say about this recipe:
Today we’re taking a trip back to 1960’s America with a vintage bundt cake recipe called “Sock It To Me Cake.” The original version was made with boxed yellow cake mix, but we’re making the entire thing from scratch. Yellow cake is easy to make, so why not?
You’ll love the moist and tender crumb on this bundt cake, which is offset by a crunchy ribbon of brown sugar and toasted pecans in the center. The entire thing is finished with a simple vanilla glaze for an irresistible dessert that’s a real showstopper. Next to my “Too Many Eggs Marble Cake,” this is one of my favorite treats to make for company.
Simple. Making this cake is as easy as whipping up some batter and making a filling out of sugar, cinnamon and nuts. The vanilla glaze comes together in a bowl with hardly any effort.
Incredible texture. The contrast between the tender cake and the crunchy filling is so satisfying!
Elegant. Even though this cake is easy to make, the end result is totally stunning. You could make this bundt cake for holidays or celebrations and it would fit in with the fanciest layer cake.
Sock It To Me Cakes hail from 1960s America. During that time, it was common for people to say “sock it to me,” which meant “give it to me.” You can hear this phrase, for example, in Aretha Franklin’s famous “Respect” song.
How did that phrase get tied to this cake? No one knows. Maybe because this cake is so good everyone was like “gimme!” when a slice was available. 🙃
One of the reasons I love making bundt cakes is because the pans come in such a gorgeous variety of patterns. However, all those rivets can make it tricky to de-pan your cake once it has finished baking. One of the most common problems I hear about with bundt cakes is the cake breaking or sticking.
So how do you make sure your cake is easy to get out of the bundt pan? By meticulously and carefully prepping your pan.
You need to grease and flour your pan generously. That means ensuring the butter or cooking spray gets into every nook and cranny. It also means using a good amount of flour. I like to sprinkle the flour all over the insides of the greased pan, then tap the bottom of the pan while turning the pan in my hands. This helps work the flour into all the little crevices and openings in the pan.
My preferred way to do this is to place a wire cooling rack on top of the bundt pan. Carefully hold the bundt pan and rack together and invert the pan so that it is on top. This way the cake will fall out onto the rack.
You can find a full list of ingredients and a printable recipe card at the end of this post. Here are few notes and substitutions for the ingredients:
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