This recipe started out with good intentions. I had a fantastic recipe in my great grandmother’s handwriting, a classic recipe that just makes me think of Christmas morning– sticky buns. The recipe, referred to as “Mama’s Travelers” for some reason, looked delicious… and called for biscuit dough. Luckily, my other great grandmother had left a recipe for melt-in-your-mouth biscuits, making a perfect biscuit dough for this sweet recipe. And all went well, until I went to roll it up… and then I realized these wouldn’t be sticky buns after all. However, what resulted was the best. darn. mistake I’ve ever made (because, well, with some quick thinking, it became a cake).
To make this from scratch, you’ll want to start with a recipe for biscuit dough; you can, of course, use storebought dough, and if you’re doing that, skip to the step where you roll it out (crescent sheets, while not exactly biscuits, would work well for this recipe, also).
If you are deciding to make it from scratch, you will want to sift together 2 cups of sifted flour (that’s right, it needs to be double-sifted), 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 4 teaspoons of baking powder.
To that, add 1/2 cup of shortening, cutting it in until the mixture looks a little bit like cornmeal. Then, add 2/3 cups milk very gradually, stirring until the mixture is moist (it’ll also be a little sticky).
Finally, to this add a beaten egg and mix the biscuit dough well.
Your mixture will look like this– nice and sticky, and just oh-so-slightly sweet.
On a floured surface, knead the dough exactly 5 times– my great grandmother’s recipe specifies to do this no more, no less. If you were going to make biscuits, you’d then roll this mixture out to 1/2 an inch thick, place them close together on a pan after cutting them out with a floured biscuit cutter, and baking it at 450 for about 10 minutes, until everything’s golden brown. But… we’re not making biscuits. Instead, you’re going to roll this dough out to 1/4 inch thickness, and refrain from cutting it. If you’re using refrigerated dough, this is where you come in!
Brush the entire mixture with melted butter– about 1/4 cup– all the way to the edges.
Next, sprinkle the entire thing with 2 cups of brown sugar– don’t go light on this. It should be pretty thick. Also add one cup of raisins, 1 cup of chopped nuts, and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon.
To make the cake, generously butter a pan– and I mean generously. Roll the biscuit mixture tightly, jelly-roll style.
Cut the roll into 1 1/2 inch thick slices, and place them in your pan. While you’re doing this, I can guarantee that some of the guts will fall out– seriously. A lot. When they do, sprinkle that all over the top.
Bake this at 350 for 35 minutes, or until the biscuits are cooked and the top is bubbly. Let cool for a few minutes, then overturn the warm cake onto a plate for serving.
This cake is gooey. It’s sticky. It’s amazing. It’s really everything you like in a sticky bun, but in a sliceable cake form, which makes it perfect for Christmas morning. And it’s so easy to assemble that you can definitely do it– trust me. This is the dummy-proof version after the real version my great grandmother would make failed, so if I can make it, you can make it, I promise.
- 2 C sifted flour
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 C shortening
- 2/3 C cold milk
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- Biscuit dough (above)
- 1/4 C melted butter
- 2 C brown sugar
- 1 C chopped nuts
- 1 C raisins
- generous sprinkle cinnamon
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, cream of tartar, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Cut in shortening until mixture resembles corn meal.
- Gradually add milk, then add the egg and mix well.
- Knead exactly 5 times on floured surface, then roll to 1/4 inch thick.
- Brush with melted butter all the way to the edges.
- Sprinkle heavily with brown sugar, then with raisins, nuts, and cinnamon.
- Roll up into jelly-roll style log.
- Slice into 1 1/2 inch thick slices, then lay them flat in heavily buttered 9x9 pan.
- Sprinkle with additional filling (which fell out during the cutting process).
- Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
Not a fan of those? That’s okay– you can skip the raisins or nuts. I won’t judge. (Okay, I will… but you do you, yeah?)
What are you making for Christmas breakfast? Let me know in the comments below, and if you make these, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or use #mamaplusone, or share it on my Facebook page! Merry Christmas, everyone!
