The Decadent Retro '70s Cake That Hides A Delicious Secret Inside

I first encountered the startingly named "Sock It to Me Cake" in an unassuming restaurant called Interstate Bar-B-Que in South Memphis, Tennessee. Just one bite of the buttery cream cake, with a swirl of brown sugar, pecans, and warm spices hiding within, was enough to convert me. The smoky barbecue spaghetti, a Memphis specialty, also didn't hurt. I'm happy to report the family-run restaurant is still open, and still serving five dollar slices of the delicious dessert, whose recipe came from the owner's sister-in-law's mother. In fact, this rich, cinnamon-laced bundt cake has long been a staple in Southern kitchens. Its popularity was only solidified when Duncan Hines included it as a recipe on the back of its Butter Golden cake mix box in the 1970s.

The name alone, "Sock It to Me," certainly gets your attention, but it's also tied to a few deeper moments in American pop culture. The phrase became nationally popular in the late 1960s thanks to the hit TV show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," but it also echoed from radios across the country when Aretha Franklin's backup singers belted it out in her 1967 anthem "Respect." The emphatic "sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me..." was a powerful call for female dignity, power, and presence. The rocker Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels also had a hit literally called, "Sock It to Me, Baby!" So while the cake itself doesn't have direct ties to Motown, the phrase and the era were instantly iconic.

Like many recipes of the time, it was semi-homemade – built for convenience and reliability, but still rooted in traditional Southern flavors, especially when it included pecans. It's certainly not a fussy cake. You mix the batter, pour part of it into a bundt pan, spoon in a thick ribbon of cinnamon-pecan filling, then top it with the remaining batter. Once baked and cooled, a simple powdered sugar glaze finishes it off. The result is soft, moist, and just sweet enough, with the filling adding a bit of texture and surprise. 

While it may have started as a marketing recipe for Duncan Hines, it quickly found a permanent home in Southern baking. Like much of the region's food culture, it reflects a blend of practicality, hospitality, and just a little flair. The name itself says, without apology, "Here I am. Take a slice. In fact, take two!"

And unlike Duncan's discontinued Burnt Sugar Cake Mix, the beloved Butter Golden cake mix is still on grocery shelves today. This is one vintage cake that hasn't fallen out of fashion yet. It's the kind of dessert that still shows up at church picnics, Sunday dinners, and holiday spreads. In the end, Sock It to Me Cake is about more than just desserts. It's a cake that captured a moment in time and continues to speak in the language of Southern soul food.