The thing about going gluten-free when you’re in a relationship, is that everyone goes gluten-free. When you have three other people living in your house, well, they gotta’ get on the g-free train as well. (Except for the Cheerios, those kids act like they’d die without the Cheerios. Such prima donnas.) Which is why I celebrated my husband’s birthday by making his favorite cake, but swapped out the gluten for the non. Sorry, babe. (I keep saying that!) The good news was, in this case, the gluten-free honeybun cake totally rocked.

Probably because the entire crew got in on making this happen. They look enthusiastic, don’t they?

I mean, thank god it was great, because can you imagine serving up a crappy gf cake to someone you love? Sure, I should have practiced first, but how was I going to hide an entire honeybun cake? Have you seen these things? Here it is without the sticky sweet icing. You can’t hide this in the closet.

Once it’s covered in sugar, it really does look like a honeybun, but tastes even more moist and delicious. I’ve been making this cake for my dude for the past four years after filching it from the Fresh Direct website, who re-printed The Cake Mix Doctor recipe. That lady can work wonders, can’t she?

So here’s how you make the easiest cake in the entire world, and adjust it to be gluten-free. You are welcome. You too, sweet knees. And happy birthday, I love you more than gluten-free cake.

Gluten-Free Honeybun Cake

adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

The cake
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow gluten-free cake mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist a 9-inch round cake pan with vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside.

2. Place the gluten-free cake mix, sour cream, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula.

3. Add the filling. Drizzle the honey on top of the batter, then sprinkle on the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans, if desired. With a dinner knife, swirl through these ingredients to blend them slightly. Place the pan in the oven.

4. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 38 to 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool while you prepare the glaze.

5. For the glaze, place the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl and stir until the mixture is well combined. Pour the glaze over the top of the hot cake in the pan, spreading it to the sides with a spoon. Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes more before cutting it into squares and serving warm.

Makes: 12 servings