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A photo from the top of cinnamon roll cake from scratch
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5 from 6 votes

Cinnamon Roll Cake From Scratch

Buttery, crunchy cinnamon cake with a warm flavorful cinnamon filling and decadent rich cream cheese icing!  
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cinnamon Roll Cake, scratch cinnamon roll cake
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 513kcal

Ingredients

Cinnamon Butter Filling:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg

For the Cake:

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • cup whole milk
  • 2 eggs room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp real almond extract
  • ½ tsp orange flavoring use zest of ½ an orange if flavoring unavailable
  • ½ cup vegetable oil

For the Icing:

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons whole milk
  • ½ cup 4 oz = ½ block cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp real almond extract
  • ¼ tsp orange flavoring

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350. Cut a circle in parchment paper the size of the bottom of your springform pan. Prepare your springform pan using baking spray or butter and flour. Place the parchment paper circle in the bottom of the pan.

Make the Cinnamon Butter Filling:

  • Cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl until evenly combined. Use a stand or hand mixer if you have one.
  • Transfer the cinnamon filling to a piping bag fitted with a medium tip. Then set this all aside until the cake batter is made.

Make the Cake Batter:

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla, almond and orange and oil.
  • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until a smooth batter is created.
  • Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform pan. Starting in the center of the cake, pipe the cinnamon filling in a spiral pattern pushing the tip down into the batter at least half way. Spiral out to within 1 inch of the edge of the pan. (The butter mix will sink into the batter as it bakes and create that classic cinnamon roll look)
  • Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Start checking at 45 minutes. The cake is done when it no longer jiggles in the center, it is browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

Make the Icing

  • While the cake is cooling, make the icing. 
  • Heat the cream cheese in the microwave for 30 secs on high
  • Mix all the icing ingredients together using a mixer or beat by hand until smooth.  If Icing is too thick, add more milk 1 tbs at a time. 

Video

Notes

Tips: 
  • Mix in the order of the recipe, this will help you achieve the results you want. 
  • When piping the filling onto the cake, it isn't that important that the concentric swirl circle be perfect, it IS important that it be  a piping tip wide in most places.  If yours is thin in places, simply layer another layer on top of what you have. 
  • Jab the piping dip down into the cake batter about 1/2 an inch.  This helps the filling to sink down into the cake slightly, which is what you want. 
  • When preparing your pan, spray with BAKING spray (not just non stick spray, but something like Bakers Joy) before you put the parchment paper circle down and then spray ON TOP OF the circle too.  Believe me, you don't want the cake to stick. 
  • Understand that this cake will not have cinnamon filling all the way down inside the cake like a real cinnamon roll.  
  • The cake is DONE when it is just past jiggly and browned on the surface. 
PRO TIP: Save the extra icing to use as a warm dip for this cake! 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 513kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 110mg | Potassium: 256mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 460IU | Calcium: 139mg | Iron: 1.9mg