Cinnamon Roll Cake

This Cinnamon Roll Cake is like having homemade cinnamon rolls turned into cake! It’s the best cake, full of cinnamon flavor.

This easy cinnamon roll cake recipe has become a family favorite. It’s a delicious cake with a cinnamon mixture swirled into the center of the cake (the best part). There is a little bit of sweet glaze drizzled on top. You must try this favorite breakfast treat that has already been enjoyed by a lot of people! It’s such a yummy recipe. You might also like to try our amazing cinnamon roll monkey bread. It’s made in a bundt pan, and it’s extremely delicious too!

This recipe comes from a book on our cookbook shelf: 52 Weeks 52 Sweets. This book is full of sweet treats for every week, every season of the year. The author includes inspiration from recipes around the world. We love it!

Here are a few fun recipes from the book:

• Apple and Cardamom Cake
• Baklava Palmiers
• Indian Fudge
• Magical Chocolate Mousse
• Victoria Sponge Cake
• Berry Delicious Cheesecake Brownies
• Silky Chocolate Pie
• Chocolate Log

Ingredients needed:

• all purpose flour
• white sugar
• baking powder and salt
• whole or 2% milk
• unsalted melted butter
• large egg
• vanilla extract
• brown sugar
• walnuts
• ground cinnamon
• powdered sugar

How to make Cinnamon Roll Cake:

The complete, printable full recipe is at the end of this post.

PREPARE THE CAKE:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 8×8-inch pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture. Pour in the milk, unsalted butter, egg and vanilla. Stir the mixture together until well-incorporated, then pour batter into your prepared pan. The batter may seem like not enough, but the cake rises quite a bit during baking.

MAKE THE CINNAMON FILLING:

In a medium bowl, stir together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add in the nuts (if using), flour and cinnamon; stir until smooth. Scoop spoonfuls of the cinnamon sugar filling across the top of the cake batter in the pan. Run a butter knife across the cake several times to swirl the cinnamon swirl mixture.

Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out nearly clean. Let the cake cool slightly while preparing the simple glaze.

PREPARE THE GLAZE:

Instead of the classic cream cheese frosting that traditional cinnamon rolls typically have, this cinnamon cake has a vanilla icing on top. That can be traditional for more old fashioned cinnamon rolls, so it works here in this cake.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, milk, vanilla and salt until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and serve it as a warm cake, while it is still gooey.

Is Icing Sugar the same as Powdered Sugar?

Icing sugar is another name for powdered sugar. They’re the same thing. Same goes for confectioner’s sugar. I prefer to refer to it as powdered sugar in all of our recipes.

If you don’t want to serve it right away (or if you have leftovers), just wrap with plastic wrap, leave it at room temperature and consume within a few days.

Why is my cake dry?

Check your oven temperature! A lot of cakes turn out to be dry in texture because the oven is just too hot. Use an oven thermometer to ensure that when you set your oven to 350ºF, it actually is 350ºF. Measure your flour correctly too. Cakes can become dry when you add too much flour. Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level off with a knife.

This homemade cinnamon roll cake is an easy breakfast treat. It’s also the perfect snack to have with a cup of coffee. The cake has the flavor of a cinnamon roll with its buttery cinnamon swirls, but instead it’s baked into a moist cake with a simple vanilla glaze.

Can I leave walnuts out of the recipe?

Of course! Many people are allergic to nuts, so it’s perfectly okay to leave them out of the cinnamon swirl in this cinnamon roll cake recipe. And there are others who simply don’t care for nuts at all, so it works for those people too.

Cake Recipes Made in a Bundt Pan:

• Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Chocolate Turtle Bundt Cake
• Copycat Nothing But Lemon Bundt Cake
• Caramel Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake
• Classic Banana Bundt Cake