Cinnamon Swirl Cake

Soft cinnamon swirl cake layers with cream cheese buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Baking, Buttercream, Cake Decorating, Cake Recipe, Desserts

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 45

Cooling/Decorating Time 2

Total Time 3 45

Servings 1 3(6-inch) layers or 2(8-inch) layers

Author Katie

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.

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.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
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.
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.
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.

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.
Next, add the salt and vanilla extract. Add in half of the powdered sugar, then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
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.
Refrigerate the frosting for 10 minutes to set and firm it up.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
While the cake is spinning, slowly move the tapered spatula and create a wave-like motion all over the cake.
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.
Serve the cake at room temperature and enjoy!

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!