I Tried the Reddit-Famous ‘Big Mama’s Secret Cinnamon Roll Cake’

The r/OldRecipes Subreddit is one of Reddit’s largest communities. As its name suggests, this community features treasured family recipes along with recipes from old books, pamphlets and community cookbooks. With over 475,000 members, there are plenty of gems to be found within this community’s threads.

In 2022, a user named HumaWormDoc posted a recipe for a cinnamon roll poke cake called Big Mama’s Secret Cinnamon Roll Cake, named after their grandmother, who created the recipe. The recipe quickly took off within the community, and three years later, it’s still super popular.

What’s the secret to this recipe’s success? It promises the flavors of a cinnamon roll without all the muss and fuss. And boy, does it deliver! This recipe is easy to make and very forgiving. While we love classic Sunday morning cinnamon roll recipes, this easy version is worth the change.

What is a poke cake?

A poke cake gets its name from the holes that are poked into the cake with a skewer after it’s baked. Icing or a sauce is poured over top the cake, allowing the flavor to infuse through the whole dessert. The flavor variations of poke cakes are truly imaginative. Some of our favorite kinds include peanut butter chocolate poke cake and tres leches cake.

Ingredients for Big Mama’s Secret Cinnamon Roll Cake

Susan Bronson for Taste of Home

For the cake batter:

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (or unsalted butter)
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup milk or buttermilk (or a mix of both)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the icing:

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Step 1: Make the cake batter

Susan Bronson for Taste of Home

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour a 13×9-inch cake pan, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and vegetable shortening. Add the eggs one at a time and beat to incorporate between each addition. Add the flour, milk and vanilla, and beat for an additional one to two minutes. Spread half of the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Step 2: Make the cinnamon swirl

In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle in an even layer over the top of the cake batter.

Pour the remaining batter over the cinnamon layer. Swirl with a knife.

Step 3: Bake the cake

Susan Bronson for Taste of Home

Bake the cake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Use a small skewer to poke holes across the top of the cake.

Step 4: Make the icing

In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter over low heat. Add the sugar and vanilla and stir to combine. Pour the icing over the warm cake.

Susan Bronson for Taste of Home

What makes this cinnamon roll poke cake so good?

Big Mama’s secret cinnamon roll cake tastes just like the gooey insides of a cinnamon roll cake. It is undeniably sweet (maybe something to do with the four cups of sugar between the cake and icing!), so a little goes a long way, making this cake great for sharing with a crowd.

This recipe is also customizable. Redditors have reported back success with decreasing the sugar, subbing in all-purpose flour for self-rising flour (use this conversion recipe) and using butter in place of vegetable shortening. The original post also reported that Big Mama made a version of the cake in which she covered the cake with banana slices before adding the icing, as well as a version with chocolate glaze made with Hershey’s cocoa powder. Now I just have to decide which version I’ll be baking next weekend!