A great yeasted cinnamon roll is and should be the standard. But, let’s face it. Sometimes we’re just not in the mood to go through the full process. It takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. Sometimes we just want to get our fix without the hassle. And this recipe is for exactly that. This cinnamon roll cake with cream cheese frosting is light, fluffy and so flavorful. We utilize the reverse-creaming method, which yields a wonderfully light and tender cake. It’s full of cinnamon flavor, the sides get gooey and it’s topped with homemade cream cheese frosting. It tastes like a cinnamon roll! It’s pretty trippy actually. This recipe is a keeper.
REASONS YOU SHOULD TRY THIS RECIPE:
- it’s a tender and fluffy cake
- tastes just like a cinnamon roll without all the work
- very easy and comes together quickly
INGREDIENTS FOR CINNAMON ROLL CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- Cake Flour – provides a tighter crumb and a tender cake
- Butter – adds richness and structure
- Granulated Sugar – adds sweetness and adds moisture
- Leaveners – we’re using baking powder and baking soda here
- Salt –brings out the rest of the flavors
- Vanilla extract – adds sweetness
- Eggs, Whole Milk and Veggie Oil – helps yield a moist and tender cake and helps with structure
- Cinnamon, Light Brown Sugar – how we get our cinnamon roll flavor in this cake
- Flour – binds our cinnamon mixture
- Cream Cheese – the main ingredient for our glaze
- Heavy cream and Confectioner’s Sugar – to thin down the glaze and sweeten the glaze
HOW TO MAKE MY Cinnamon Roll Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Prep and mix – Using pan grease and cooking spray, grease your 8×8″ square pan very well. Then, preheat your oven to 335º F/168º C. Place 2 oz of the milk and oil in a separate bowl or cup and set aside. Combine the remaining milk, vanilla, and room-temperature eggs in a separate measuring cup, whisk to combine and set aside.
- Measure out dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and place them into the stand mixer bowl. Attach the paddle to the mixer, and turn on the slowest speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers). Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added. Let mix until batter resembles coarse sand. Add milk/oil mixture to the dry ingredients. Once the milk/oil mixture is all poured in, immediately turn the speed up to medium speed (speed 4 on my KitchenAid) and mix for 2 full minutes. Do not skip this step or your cake will not rise.
- Stop the mixer after two minutes scrape the bowl and paddle down really well.
- Turn the mixer back on to the lowest speed on the mixer. Add in ⅓ of your milk/egg mixture and let it mix in fully. Don’t add the next addition until the first is fully incorporated into the batter. Repeat 2 more times until the batter is just combined. Scrape the bowl well and set aside.
Cinnamon Mixture and Baking:
- Combine your cinnamon mixture ingredients into a medium bowl and use your hands, mixer or rubber spatula to combine. The mixture should be smooth and creamy, but thick and uniform. Set this mixture aside.
- Pour the cake batter into the greased pan. Drop heaping tablespoons of the cinnamon mixture over the top in various spots.
- Use an offset spatula to slowly swirl the cinnamon mixture into the cake batter, being careful not to touch your spatula to the bottom of the pan and not to overdo it, so the batter doesn’t become muddled.
- Once you’re happy with your pattern, lightly tap the pan on the counter to allow excess air to release from the batter.
- Bake at 335°F for 25-30 minutes if you’re using a metal pan or 30-40 minutes if you’re using a glass pan. Check it at the 25-30 minute mark and continue to add 5-minute increments until it’s almost done. The cake should rise a bit and be golden brown on top. A skewer or toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs, but the cake should be no longer jiggly or liquid from the inside. I used a glass pan and it took me about 40 minutes for it to be set enough. Be careful not to open the oven door repeatedly. That could lead to your cake sinking out of the oven.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, place the pan on a wire rack to allow it to cool for around 15-20 minutes. After about 15-20 minutes, wrap the top of the pan lightly with plastic wrap. Allow the cake to cool this way until just slightly warm. In the meantime, make your cream cheese frosting.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- Cream the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium.
- Turn the machine off and add in the confectioner’s sugar all at once.
- Turn the machine on to the lowest setting and mix until incorporated.
- Once incorporated, turn the speed up to medium. Slowly pour in the vanilla and the heavy cream. Mix until uniform.
- Spread evenly on top of your slightly warm cake. Cut and serve warm!
- (Adjust the sweetness and the heavy cream based on your taste and preference with consistency, if necessary.)
SOME MORE GREAT CAKE RECIPES:
Cinnamon Roll Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 1 8×8" Square Pan
Ingredients
Cake:
- 6.5 oz cake flour
- 6.5 oz granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 oz unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5 oz whole milk room temperature
- 1.5 oz vegetable oil
- 1 ½ large eggs room temperature
Cinnamon Mixture:
- 3 oz unsalted butter room temp
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- very small pinch of salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 5 oz cream cheese room temp
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter room temp
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 3-5 tablespoons heavy cream or milk room temp
- very small pinch of salt
Instructions
Cake:
- Grease your pan with cooking spray or pan grease and then preheat your oven to 335º F/168º C.
- Place 2 oz of the milk and oil in a separate bowl or cup and set aside. Combine the remaining milk, vanilla, and room temp eggs in a separate measuring cup, whisk to combine and set aside.
- Measure out dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and place them into the stand mixer bowl.
- Attach the paddle to the mixer, and turn on the slowest speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers).
- Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added. Let mix until batter resembles coarse sand.
- Add milk/oil only mixture into the dry ingredients. Once the milk/oil mixture is all poured in, immediately turn the speed up to medium speed (speed 4 on my KitchenAid) and mix for 2 full minutes. Do not skip this step or your cake will not rise.
- Stop the mixer after the two minutes and scrape the bowl and paddle down really well.
- Turn the mixer back on to the lowest speed on the mixer. Add in ⅓ of your milk/egg mixture and let it mix in fully. Don't add the next addition until the first is fully incorporated into the batter. Repeat 2 more times until batter is just combined. Scrape the bowl and paddle really well.
Cinnamon Mixture:
- Combine your cinnamon mixture ingredients into a medium bowl and use your hands, mixer or rubber spatula to combine. The mixture should be smooth and creamy, but thick and uniform. Set this mixture aside.
- Pour the cake batter into the pan. Drop heaping tablespoons of the cinnamon mixture over the top in various spots.
- Use an offset spatula to slowly swirl the cinnamon mixture into the cake batter, being careful not to touch your spatula to the bottom of the pan and not to overdo it, so the batter doesn’t become muddled.
- Once you’re happy with your pattern, lightly tap the pan on the counter to allow excess air to release from the batter.
- Bake at 335°F for 25-30 minutes if you're using a metal pan or 30-40 minutes if you're using a glass pan. Check it at the 25-30 minute mark and continue to add 5-minute increments until it's almost done. The cake should rise a bit and be golden brown on top. A skewer or toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs, but the cake should be no longer jiggly or liquid from the inside. I used a glass pan and it took me about 40 minutes for it to be set enough.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, place the pan on a wire rack to allow it to cool for around 15-20 minutes. After about 15-20 minutes, wrap the top of the pan lightly with plastic wrap. Allow the cake to cool this way until just slightly warm. In the meantime, make your cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium.
- Turn the machine off and add in the confectioner’s sugar all at once.
- Turn the machine on to the lowest setting and mix until incorporated.
- Once incorporated, turn the speed up to medium. Slowly pour in the vanilla and the heavy cream. Mix until uniform.
- Spread evenly on top of your slightly warm cake. Cut and serve warm!
- (Adjust the sweetness and the heavy cream based on your taste and preference with consistency, if necessary.)
Video
Notes
- Grease your pan well!
- Cooking times may differ depending on the type of pan you’re using. I used a glass pan and it took me 40 minutes. I would bake for 25 minutes and keep an eye on it until golden brown. Check with a skewer at the 30-minute mark.
- Best when served slightly warm.
- Make sure your ingredients are room temperature before getting started.
- Cake flour is highly suggested as it leads to a tender crumb, but you can use all-purpose if that’s all you have.
- I highly recommend using a scale whenever baking, however if you don’t have one you can just convert the oz to cups.
- Stores outside the fridge for 3 days, well wrapped. Stores in the freezer unfrosted well wrapped for a couple of months.
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