Cinnabon® Cinnamon Roll Cake

 I remember from my days working at the Dayton Mall the Cinnabon® shop that opened near the food court. It was hard to walk by there with those luscious rolls on display and customers carrying them away in special containers.

 I haven't seen one in years (I never go to the mall) but I was looking at recipes yesterday hoping that there might be a way to create a replica at home. That's when I found an Allrecipes entry for Cinnabon® Cinnamon Roll cake (click here).

 A sheet cake seemed much easier than making a traditional dough and rolling it up with cinnamon in the layers. And a "cake" is easy to cut into individual pieces of any size.

 The directions note just five steps (Step 1 is preheating the oven and preparing the pan):

Step 2

This step makes the creamy, vanilla-flavored batter.

 Here it is poured into the 9x13" greased baking pan.

Step 3 

 This step creates the intense cinnamon-flavored top layer.

Step 4 

The cinnamon is swirled into the cake batter with a knife, creating a marbled effect. It is then baked at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes (I left it in the full 30 minutes).

Step 5

 The white icing is made and held until the cake comes out of the oven and allowed to cool a bit.

 The cinnamon "erodes" into the cake layer where it has been swirled with a knife. This picture is after baking.

 And finally the vanilla frosting is drizzled onto the still-warm cake. This recipe might make a little too much icing. But then I remember Cinnabon® cinnamon rolls being ooie-gooie with plenty of sticky icing. So who am I to complain?

 Bottom line: it's a delicious roll/cake but I wouldn't say it tastes exactly like a Cinnabon®. Their rolls use a yeast dough (surely) and the taste of yeast is unmistakable and far better than a cake dough. Still, this is easy and delicious and certainly fills a gap in a sweet tooth,

 It's disappearing quickly just the same ...