Sock It To Me Cake

Apparently this is a Southern thing made with boxed cake.

This recipe comes, unsurprisingly, from Preppy Kitchen (https://preppykitchen.com/sock-it-to-me-cake/). I have not changed it. It is very good, and universally appreciated.

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1 cup / 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/4 cups / 425g sugar, granulated or caster

3 cups / 360g plain flour

6 eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup / 227g sour cream, at room temperature

For the Pecan Filling:

1 cup / 125g pecans

1/3 cup / 66g dark brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Glaze:

2 cups / 250g icing sugar

3 Tbsp / 45g whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

For the Pecan Filling:

Preheat the oven to 325˚F / 170˚C

On a baking sheet lined with foil, toast the pecans until fragrant, c. 5-7 minutes.

Remove from the oven immediately when they begin to smell, and roughly chop them.

In a small bowl, mix together the chopped pecans, brown sugar and ground cinnamon and set aside.

For the Cake:

Grease and flour or spray a 12 cup bundt pan.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt, and whisk together.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, c. 4 minutes. Scrape the bowl down at least once.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.

Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.

Scrape down the bowl one last time, making sure to churn up and incorporate any unmixed ingredients that have adhered to the bottom.

Add c. 1/3 of the batter to the bundt cake pan and smooth over.

Sprinkle the pecan filling over it, then spread the remaining batter over the filling.

Bake c. 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for c. 5 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

You might need to loosen the cake from the sides, the pecan filling can stick. This one also needed a wee trim, and sampling.

For the Glaze:

Whisk together the icing sugar, milk and vanilla extract.

Spread over the cooled cake, and allow to set for a couple of hours before slicing and eating.