I Tried the Reddit-Famous “Big Mama Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake”
I grew up on poke cakes, especially during the holidays. My aunt would whip up a beautiful dessert using a few pantry staples: boxed yellow cake mix, a can of coconut milk, and shredded coconut. Recently, my editor sent me a viral Reddit post about a cinnamon roll poke cake. It floated to the surface on “old recipes” — a discussion on the platform that highlights culinary tips passed down from family members or ones found in vintage cookbooks. With the holiday season approaching, I thought it would be a great idea to try this famous poke cake and see if it could become a new favorite in our festive spread of sweets this year. But with everything on social media, you have to be careful, so I decided to bake it a few weeks before the celebrations to ensure it turned out as well as the original creator promised.
Get the recipe: Reddit-Famous “Big Mama Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake”
How to Make the Reddit-Famous “Big Mama Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake”
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine two cups of self-rising flour, 1 cup of buttermilk, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and mix. Then, using a hand mixer, beat one and a half cups of sugar, half a cup of Crisco, and four eggs together. Fold the flour and buttermilk mixture into the creamed sugar and shortening one and gently mix until smooth.
To make the cinnamon roll filling, combine half a cup of brown sugar with 4 teaspoons of cinnamon in a bowl. Next, spread half of the cake batter into a greased and floured 9×13-inch pan. Evenly sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the batter. Then pour the remaining cake batter on top. Use a knife to gently swirl the batter before baking it in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the cake is baking, make the icing. Add a fourth cup of milk and 3 tablespoons of butter and heat it gently until it melts. Then add that liquid to a bowl filled with 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and combine until it becomes smooth.
When the cake comes out of the oven, poke it with the stem of a wooden spoon. Then, pour the icing over the warm cake to fill all its crevices with a sweet topping.
My Honest Review of the Reddit-Famous “Big Mama Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake”
The cake not only looked delicious and appetizing, but it also filled my entire kitchen with the aroma of warm spices.
Unfortunately, the cinnamon roll poke cake ended up being a bit of a disappointment. The cake was tender and warm, and the first bite tasted good. But it was so sweet, I couldn’t eat more than a small piece.
I knew this cake would be rich. One person on Reddit commented rather harshly, “I did eat a slice, but it’s mega sweet. Garbaged the rest.” But besides that reaction, most of the feedback on the post was overwhelmingly positive, so I gave this recipe a try anyways.
When I returned to the comment section after baking, I saw that a bunch of Reddit users left feedback for alterations they made to the cake, such as replacing the Crisco with butter to achieve a lighter and fluffier texture, to reducing the amount of sugar in the recipe by half, and swapping the cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice to add more complexity into the flavor profile. I won’t be making this recipe as-is for my family’s holiday celebrations, but when I try it again, I’ll definitely keep those tips in mind.
Tips for Making the Reddit-Famous “Big Mama Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake”
Add more spices. The recipe relies solely on cinnamon, but to add some depth to the flavor profile, you can also toss in a pinch of nutmeg, clove, pumpkin pie spice, or allspice to infuse more complexity to the final taste.
Make a cream cheese icing. This cake is very sweet. But to cut back on these overly sugary bites, you can make a tangy cream cheese icing to give it a balanced flavor.
Grate in some citrus. This cinnamon roll poke cake is begging for a fresh and bright flavor component. Add a pinch of lemon or orange zest to the icing to bring out more punchy notes.
Get the recipe: Reddit-Famous “Big Mama Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake”
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