The word of the day

When my kids were little, whenever my sister was visiting she'd give them a "Word of the Day". We'd be at the breakfast table, and she'd look seriously at my four year old son and eighteen month old daughter and say:

"OK guys.  The word of the day is...FOYER!"

They would stare intently back at her over their Cheerios. She'd continue:

"It's related to the one we had yesterday.  Do you remember?"

My son would leap up from his chair and shout happily:

"VESTIBULE!"

Then they would spend the rest of the day finding ridiculous ways to use the word FOYER in every conversation.

It was hilarious.  But it was kind of brilliant*.

My sister isn't here right now,  so I'll take over for her.  

"OK guys. The word of the day is...CINNAMON TOAST CAKE!"

Crap. That's three words. 

She's obviously way better at this than I am. 

But you should still try to find ways to add Cinnamon Toast Cake to every conversation.  It's kind of brilliant.

Cinnamon Toast Cake

by Sharon Graves

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30-ish minutes

More proof that butter makes everything better. Moist, crumbly vanilla cake is covered with a crackling layer of buttery, crispy cinnamon sugar. Full credit to Rebecca of Foodie with Family for this. I've barely adapted her excellent recipe. She also has instructions for a vegan version, so head on over there!

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Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 4 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 c. whole milk
• ¼ c. butter, melted
• 1 Tbs. vanilla
• additional butter for the pan

For the Cinnamon Toast Topping:

• 1¼ c. butter, melted
• 1¼ c. sugar
• 2 Tbs. (generous) cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Generously butter a half sheet pan (13x18), making sure that the corners and seams are very well greased. Set aside.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add milk, melted butter and vanilla, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to gently combine. Don't worry if the mixture is not completely smooth, but you don't want to see any dry pockets or clumps of flour. Scrape batter into the prepared pan and smooth to even it out. 

Bake for 23 minutes.

While the cake is baking, stir sugar and cinnamon together in a medium bowl for the topping.

After the cake has baked 23 minutes, remove it from the oven. Pour ⅔ of the melted butter evenly over the top, starting from the sides and working your way in. (I used a pastry brush to help make sure it was smoothly covered). Sprinkle all of the cinnamon sugar over the butter, then drizzle the remaining butter over the top. Don't worry if there are patches that aren't evenly covered with butter and sugar...the oven will fix everything!

Put the pan back in the oven and bake an additional 8-9 minutes, or until the cinnamon layer is bubbly all over. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing into long bars or squares.

Leftovers (ha!) will keep for a few days in an airtight container.

* As young adults, they are completely up to speed on synonyms for "entry hallway".