Cinnamon Swirl Cake

My brother-in-law turns 23 tomorrow.

He asked Bruce and I if we could have him and some of his friends over to our place to play card games and eat pizza.

He also asked if I would make him a cinnamon swirl cake.  I was informed that he didn't mean "coffee cake", just cinnamon swirl cake, because coffee cake is too "dry".  So for the past week or so, I've been thinking about how I was going to go about making a cinnamon swirl cake that wasn't coffee cake, and wasn't too dry.

Well, after a quick check to make sure he was going to be alright with the addition of frosting on the cake (he's not a big frosting fan, like me), I determined my heading, and tonight, the cake was a hit!

So here it is, a non-dry, non-coffee cake, cinnamon swirl cake.

Cinnamon Swirl Cake

Ingredients:

1 box white cake mix
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. melted butter
1/2 c. brown sugar

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/4 c. butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla paste (regular vanilla extract works too)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions.  Mix graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, brown sugar and melted butter together in a separate bowl.

Pour enough batter in your desired pan (I used 2, 9-in round cake pans) to just cover the bottom.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon/graham mixture all over the batter, then top with remaining batter.

Bake according to the package directions for the cake mix.

Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

Whip the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy.  Add vanilla, cinnamon, and powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency (more or less powdered sugar as you desire).

For the layer cake, I added some of the remaining cinnamon/graham mixture to some of the frosting and used that to fill between the layers.

Frost your cake, top with remaining cinnamon/graham mixture, and store in the refrigerator before serving.

Enjoy!