Share treasured memories with holiday recipe

With Thanksgiving in the rear view, we can now set our sights on the next large meal (or meals) with family and friends as the winter holidays are upon us.

Winter holiday meals are rife with nostalgia; Aunt Bea’s gumbo, your cousin’s coconut crème pie or a neighbor’s homemade macaroni and cheese. And early research shows that eating with family and friends and sharing meals at home can promote healthy habits for children and adults.

In the spirit of being healthy, find your new favorite recipe from the Baylor community in the second annual BCM Family Holiday Cookbook. Last year, more than 30 recipes were submitted by the Baylor College of Medicine community.

Check out this recipe submitted by Kyna Barnes, medical assistant at Baylor, for the 2023 BCM Family Holiday Cookbook.

Sock It To Me Cake

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup pecans, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 box cake mix
• 1 cup powder sugar
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar

Tip: This recipe uses more eggs than most cake mixes call for. Use another lighter tasting oil if you have one on hand. Sour cream makes the cake moist and rich (it stays really moist, too). Pecans are traditional, but almonds or walnuts also work. Use whatever milk you have on hand. Cake mix is your choice (I use Duncan Hines Classic Butter Golden Cake Mix). Powder sugar is for the icing/glaze, and brown sugar is for the filling. Make sure you have a Bundt pan!

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Reserve 1/4 cup of the dry cake mix to later mix into the nuts and brown sugar.
• Mix the rest of the cake mix with white sugar, eggs, oil, water and sour cream. Mix until thoroughly combined, scraping the sides as you go.
• In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup of cake mix, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Set it aside. This is for the filling.
• In a thoroughly greased and floured Bundt pan, pour in 1/2 of the cake batter and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar pecans over the batter, making sure to leave a little space between the inner and outer cake pan and the cinnamon sugar pecan mixture.
• Once the pecans are in place, spoon on the remaining cake batter on top, so it is evenly distributed.
• Bake at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Carefully remove the cake from the oven, and let it cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before flipping it out and placing it on a plate or wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely.
• Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and mix in 1 teaspoon of milk one at a time until you reach a consistency where it is thick but still pourable. You may not need all of the milk.
• Once the cake is cool, drizzle the icing over the top.

By Julie Garcia