Gooey and Delicious Cinnamon Swirl Cake

Looking for an ooey-gooey Christmas treat that all your family and friends will love? 

The holidays may look different this year, but this Cinnamon Swirl Cake will bring everyone together. 

The Cinnamon Swirl Cake is perfect for the holidays for many reasons. The first is how easy it is to make, especially for beginner cake decorators. The second is how it’s a definite crowd-pleaser who doesn’t love a warm cinnamon roll around the holidays, but this is a cake. 

This Cinnamon swirl cake is made with light, and fluffy vanilla cake with cinnamon filling swirled inside topped with cream cheese buttercream. 

The cinnamon swirl filling is the real star of this cake. It’s a mixture of cinnamon, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and cocoa powder. It’s also the same mixture I use when making cinnamon rolls. You can easily make the cinnamon swirl filling ahead of time and keep it in your fridge ready to go in your cakes, cupcakes, bread puddings, and even pancakes would be tasty! 

You also can’t forget the cream cheese buttercream, which is foolproof. Make it ahead of time for ease, or make it the same day ad try to resist how good it tastes. 

This cinnamon swirl cake is insanely good and something that your friends and family will devour. Seriously it will be gone quickly! 

I promise it tastes just like a giant cinnamon roll. This cake recipe will quickly become your favorite and will get requested often. 

I’ll walk you through all the steps and give you my best tips for success, so you are ready to go and bake. Here’s how to make this insanely delicious Cinnamon Swirl Cake! 

Tips for Success: 

• Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
• A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three 8-inch cake layers.
• In this cake recipe, you need 1 cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1 cup whole milk mixed with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own. 
• To make cake flour at home, mix 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch. Sift or whisk together to get rid of any lumps. 
• Be careful not to overmix this cake batter, or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
• You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month. 
• You can make the buttercream a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Then take them out to come back to room temperature for 10 minutes. Make sure the buttercream is slightly softened before re-whipping but still cold. 
• Serve at room temperature and use a hot knife to get clean cake slices! 

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake: 

• 5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl & paddle attachment
• 3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
• Offset spatula and tapered offset spatula 
• 8-inch or 10-inch white cake board 
• Serrated knife or cake leveler 
• Turntable 
• Cake scraper or bench scraper
• Whisk or sifter
• Rubber Spatula
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
• Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
• Piping Bags (I use reusable silicone bags)
• Cake Stand, optional

Let’s Get Baking! 

Cinnamon Swirl Filling 

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the light brown sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and mix in the vegetable oil until all the ingredients are well combined. Set aside. 

How to Make Vanilla Cake Layers

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. 
3. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
5. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated. 
6. Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
7. Evenly distribute half of the cake batter among the three cake pans. Then evenly distribute the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of the cake batter. Add the remaining cake batter on top of the cinnamon swirl filling. Use a long skewer to swirl the cake batter in the pans. 
8.  Bake the cakes for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
9. Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

How to Make Foolproof Cream Cheese Buttercream 

1. In a stand mixer bowl, combine the butter and cream cheese. Blend on medium-high until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure the butter and cream cheese is smooth. Continue to cream them together until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes. 
2. Next, add the salt and vanilla extract. Add in half of the powdered sugar, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
3. Then add the other half of the powdered sugar. Once all the powdered sugar has been added, turn up the speed gradually and mix on medium-high until the buttercream is smooth and creamy but do not overmix, the buttercream will become soupy. 
4. Refrigerate the frosting for 10 minutes to set and firm it up.

Putting It All Together

1. Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the cakes’ dome to make the layers flat and even. 
2. Add a small amount of buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer one cake layer, cut side up onto the cake board. Pipe ⅔ cup of buttercream and use an offset spatula to smooth the buttercream layer.  
3. Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer — Crumb coat with white buttercream and freeze for 30 minutes. 
4. Add a thicker layer of buttercream to the cold cake. Use an offset spatula and cake scraper to make the sides and the top as smooth as possible. 
5. While slowly turning the cake, starting from the bottom, gently press the tapered (or pointed) offset spatula into the side of the cake and move your wrist in a wave (up and down motion). 
6. While the cake is spinning, slowly move the tapered spatula and create a wave-like motion all over the cake. 
7. On top of the cake, start from the outside edge and spin the cake. Press and move the spatula from outside to inside, creating a spiral. 
8. Serve the cake at room temperature and enjoy! 

You May Also Enjoy: 

• How to Make Perfect Cake Pops (free training) 
• How to Cut & Serve Cake (free guide)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)

I’m so excited to see your Cinnamon Swirl Cake creations. Please feel free to email me here at xokatierosario@gmail.com with any questions you may have; I’ll be happy to help! 

Happy Baking! 

P.S. Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out Cake Decorating for Beginners, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation so that you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/online-cake-course. I will see you there! 

Watch The How-to Video Below: 

 

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