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My grandsons asked what the cake on the counter was called, and when I told them they went and asked their grandfather whether I was making it up. I was not. Sock-it-to-me cake was really the name, from a catchphrase on a television show that was on when I was young, and in the seventies every woman on our street made it from the recipe on the side of a box of yellow cake mix.
The mix was the start, not the finish. The recipe added a cup of sour cream, oil, sugar and more eggs than the box asked for, and that is why the cake was moist and fine-crumbed when a plain box cake was dry. Half of that batter went into the pan, the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans were scattered over it, and the rest went on top. It was never swirled. Swirling makes a muddy cake. Layers make a streak, and cut a slice with no streak in it and my mother would say you had cut it wrong.
The glaze is thin, just powdered sugar and milk, and it goes on while the cake is still faintly warm so it runs down into the ridges and sets there. This is a coffee cake as much as a dessert. It sat under a cake cover on the counter and was breakfast, afternoon snack and what you carried to a neighbor.
Why this sock-it-to-me cake works
- Sour cream in the batter. It adds fat and acid, which makes the crumb tender and fine and keeps the cake moist for days. This is the difference between this cake and a plain box cake.
- Extra eggs and oil. Four eggs and half a cup of oil give a box mix the richness of a pound cake, so it stands tall in the pan.
- A layered streak, not a swirl. Batter, filling, batter. Left alone, the filling bakes into one clean dark vein. Swirled, it dissolves into the cake.
- A thin glaze while warm. A warm cake pulls a thin glaze down into the ridges. On a cold cake it sits on top like paint.
Ingredients
Makes one 10 inch Bundt cake, about 16 slices. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the streak
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (100g)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped pecans (115g)
- 2 tablespoons of the dry cake mix, taken from the box below
For the cake
- One box of yellow cake mix (about 15 ounces, 425g), less the 2 tablespoons above
- 1 cup sour cream (240g), full fat
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (120ml)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 1/4 cup water (60ml)
- 4 large eggs
- Butter and flour for the pan
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120g)
- 2 tablespoons milk (30ml), plus a few drops more if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Any plain yellow or butter-flavored cake mix works. Boxes have shrunk over the years; a box of around 15 ounces gives the recipe as written, and an older 18 ounce box only makes a slightly taller cake. Take the sour cream and eggs out early so they are not cold.
How to make sock-it-to-me cake
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 10 inch Bundt pan (12 cup capacity) very thoroughly, getting into every ridge and around the tube, then dust it with flour and tap out the excess. A cake with a sugar streak sticks wherever the pan was missed.
- Make the streak. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, chopped pecans and 2 tablespoons of the dry cake mix. Set it aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the rest of the cake mix with the sour cream, oil, sugar, water and eggs. Beat with a hand mixer on medium for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl once, until smooth and thick.
- Pour about two thirds of the batter into the pan and smooth it level. Scatter the pecan mixture evenly over it, keeping it a little away from the edges so it does not stick to the sides.
- Spoon the remaining batter over the filling in dollops and gently spread it to cover the streak completely. Do not swirl. Layers make the streak.
- Bake at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes, until the top is deep gold, the cake has pulled away slightly from the sides, and a long skewer pushed in between the outer wall and the tube comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes. Not less, or it breaks coming out; not much more, or the sugar streak glues it to the pan. Run a thin knife around the edge and the tube, then turn it out onto the rack.
- While the cake is still faintly warm, whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to a thin glaze that runs off the whisk in a ribbon. Drizzle it over the top and let it run down the ridges. Let it set for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Tips that make the difference
- Grease the pan like you mean it, every ridge and the tube, then flour it. A streak cake that sticks tears in half.
- Keep the pecan filling away from the pan walls. Sugar touching the metal caramelizes and welds the cake in place.
- Cooling in the pan is 15 to 20 minutes. Set a timer. This is the step people get wrong.
- Test with a long skewer in two places. The batter under the streak is the last part to set.
Variations
- Cream cheese glaze. Beat 2 ounces softened cream cheese (57g) with the powdered sugar and enough milk to thin it. It sets whiter and richer.
- Extra streak. Double the filling and layer it twice: batter, filling, batter, filling, batter.
- Walnut. Use chopped walnuts instead of pecans, the Midwestern version.
- Tube pan. A 10 inch tube pan works the same way and turns out with a flat top instead of ridges.
Storage and make-ahead
Keep the cake under a cake cover or loosely wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days. It is better on day two.
Slices freeze well for up to 3 months, wrapped in plastic and then foil. Thaw them at room temperature, still wrapped.
The refrigerator dries it out. Only chill it if you used the cream cheese glaze, and bring slices back to room temperature before serving.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called sock-it-to-me cake?
The name came from a catchphrase on a comedy show that was on television in the late sixties and early seventies. The recipe appeared on the side of the yellow cake mix box in those years and the name stuck long after most people forgot the show.
Can I make it without the cake mix?
Yes. Use your favorite sour cream pound cake batter, about 6 cups, and layer the streak through it the same way. The mix is traditional, but the streak is the cake.
Why did my streak disappear?
It was swirled or stirred into the batter. Pour, scatter, cover, bake. The filling should be a clean dark line when you cut the cake.
Why did my cake stick to the pan?
Either a ridge was missed when greasing, the filling touched the pan wall, or the cake sat in the pan too long and the sugar set hard. Grease thoroughly, keep the streak off the sides, and turn it out at 15 to 20 minutes.
Start with the box, add the sour cream and the extra eggs, layer the streak and do not swirl. Then wait for somebody to ask what it is called and enjoy telling them.
Sock-It-To-Me Cake (The Seventies Bundt With the Pecan Streak)
The 1970s sock-it-to-me cake as it was on the side of the box: one box of yellow cake mix with sour cream, oil, sugar and four eggs, a streak of brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans through the middle, an hour at 350°F, and a thin powdered sugar glaze.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons of the dry cake mix, taken from the box below
- One box of yellow cake mix (about 15 ounces, 425g), less the 2 tablespoons above
- 1 cup sour cream (240g), full fat
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 large eggs
- Butter and flour for the pan
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk (30ml), plus a few drops more if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 10 inch Bundt pan (12 cup capacity) very thoroughly, getting into every ridge and around the tube, then dust it with flour and tap out the excess. A cake with a sugar streak sticks wherever the pan was missed.
- Make the streak. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, chopped pecans and 2 tablespoons of the dry cake mix. Set it aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the rest of the cake mix with the sour cream, oil, sugar, water and eggs. Beat with a hand mixer on medium for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl once, until smooth and thick.
- Pour about two thirds of the batter into the pan and smooth it level. Scatter the pecan mixture evenly over it, keeping it a little away from the edges so it does not stick to the sides.
- Spoon the remaining batter over the filling in dollops and gently spread it to cover the streak completely. Do not swirl. Layers make the streak.
- Bake at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes, until the top is deep gold, the cake has pulled away slightly from the sides, and a long skewer pushed in between the outer wall and the tube comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes. Not less, or it breaks coming out; not much more, or the sugar streak glues it to the pan. Run a thin knife around the edge and the tube, then turn it out onto the rack.
- While the cake is still faintly warm, whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to a thin glaze that runs off the whisk in a ribbon. Drizzle it over the top and let it run down the ridges. Let it set for about 30 minutes before slicing.
