The Times They Are A'Changin'

Honey Bun Cake

It doesn't quite feel appropriate to write the blog post I wanted to share today.  With so much upheaval and uncertainty, that can wait. (I planned to make a recipe I enjoyed on our beach trip but my store was out of the main ingredient.)  Like the rest of the world, I've been watching and listening to the warnings about Corona virus for several weeks now. But last week—our last night at the beach for our annual girls get-away—when we heard that the NBA had cancelled the season and March Madness had cancelled, things immediately felt different. Since that night it seems like the world as we know it has changed. 

Being the person I am—inveterate disaster planner here—for the last few weeks, I had been buying a few extra things each trip to the grocery store. We live so far from stores that I stay pretty well stocked anyway because discovering I'm out of something mid-recipe is more than annoying. It's a 45-minute round trip to pick up a single ingredient. I try not to run out.

But as the concern ramped up, I have found myself thinking probably like my grandmother did during the Great Depression. And like my mother did when dollars were short. They did this for a very long time. This time we hope it's a temporary supply shortage of some items. But right now the shelves in my small local store don't look like they did last week. I've thinking hard about what is essential and what could we live without. The "live without" list is by far the longest.

Before I baked a cake this morning, I looked at the recipe and thought, "Hmmm.....I have 9 eggs here. This cake calls for four. How long with the remaining five eggs last me? Do I really want to make this?" Will there be an egg shortage this week?  No clue. We are in "who knows" territory until further notice. I am now thinking ahead about menus for the week. I'm checking what I have here. I am planning like I should do all the time. And I'm being more careful not to waste anything. Leftovers are looking better and better. 

Much will be learned in the coming weeks and months. Less things taken for granted. Let's not panic, but let's be very thoughtful about decisions we make. So take care, dear readers. Be kind to one another. Especially to those who are out of work with income uncertainties and business owners who will struggle. And practice patience with those poor folks who are working so hard to keep us safe and fed and well. 

Don't forget to eat the good healthy foods that help us stay well, but if you are practicing social distancing, you may be looking for a little treat. Here is an oldie-but-goodie recipe. It's perfect with a cup of coffee. If you have kids at home (our schools are closed) this is an easy one for them to make. My cake just came out of the oven. Daddy-O is just waiting for it to cool.  

HONEY BUN CAKE

1 box yellow cake mix

2/3 cup vegetable (or canola) oil

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch pan. (I just used regular PAM.)

In a large bowl, beat cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds and then on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Spread half of batter in pan.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Sprinkle over batter in pan. Carefully spread remaining batter over pecan mixture. Bake 44-48 minutes or until deep golden brown.

In another small bowl, mix powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until thin enough to spread. Prick surface of warm cake several times with fork. Spread powdered sugar mixture over warm cake. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

This time I needed to add another teaspoon of milk to the powdered sugar. The glaze should be fairly thick—kind of like honey, but when you spread it over the hot cake (work quickly), the heat from the cake melts it enough to spread. I used a large spoon to drizzle the frosting over the cake, then used the back of the spoon to spread it.