Okay this Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake is going to be a new family tradition for the holidays in my family. With 3 towering layers of fluffy cinnamon cake, filled with cinnamon roll flavored cream cheese frosting, topped with cinnamon ganache and mini cinnamon rolls it’s the perfect addition to your Christmas dessert table this year! Keep scrolling to see how YOU can put it all together!
How To Make Cinnamon Roll Crumble
- 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (4.7 ounces) brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, butter, honey and cinnamon with a silicone spatula. The mixture should look like clumps of sand. Sprinkle the crumbles over the prepared baking pan and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring halfway through. Let crumble cool and break up any large crumbles with your fingers before using.
Cinnamon Cake
For this cake I used my favorite vanilla cake recipe and added 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon roll flavoring.
Whole Milk: For baking I always use whole milk. The fat in milk helps tenderize the cakes crumb and helps weaken gluten development.
Sour Cream: Sour cream is acidic and helps create a tender cake.
Cake Flour: You’ll notice this recipe calls for cake flour. Cake flour has a low protein content which helps deliver a delicate and fine crumbed cake.
Reverse Creaming Method: I also use the reverse creaming method for this cake. That means I combine all of the dry ingredients, and then add softened butter to the dry ingredients. This method creates a cake that is tender and sturdy with an ultra fine crumb. It also creates an even surface of cake on top so no need to trim cake domes off with this method.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The use of both baking powder and baking soda helps produce a light cake crumb as well as more browning.
Room Temperature Butter: Butter is at room temperature at about 65 degrees. You can cut the butter up to speed up the process. If your butter bends without breaking you are good to go.
Cinnamon Roll Cream Cheese Frosting
I used my favorite cream cheese frosting for this recipe with the addition of ground cinnamon and cinnamon roll flavoring.
Tips For Achieving Super Smooth Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature.
- Beat the butter well.
- Mix all the ingredients well.
- Only after all the ingredients have been added and beaten together well, add your room temperature cream cheese to the mix.
- Mix until combined and no longer or your frosting could get runny.
Cinnamon Ganache
This ganache is so easy to make with just 2 ingredients!
- Cinnamon chips
- Heavy cream
Microwave cinnamon chips with heavy cream for 30 seconds and stir to combine. That’s it! Use a spoon or a squeeze bottle to create drips on the side of the cake and fill the top with the remaining cinnamon ganache. Don’t forget to chill the cake for at least 15 minutes before adding mini cinnamon rolls.
Assembly Tips
- Have a cake turntable and a cake comb on hand if possible.
- Place first cake layer on an 8-inch cake board and fill with 1/2 cup filling. Use a measuring cup to get the most accurate measurement. Repeat with the second cake layer and place the third cake layer on top (bottom side up).
- Crumb coat the cake and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Apply the final layer of frosting on the chilled cake using a smooth cake comb if possible.
- Chill the cake for at least 15 minutes after the final coat of frosting has been applied.
- Prepare the ganache and apply on to the chilled cake. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for another 15 minutes before adding mini cinnamon rolls.
- Place mini cinnamon rolls on the top of the cake and serve.
Cake Baking Schedule
Day 1: Prepare the cinnamon roll crumble and bake the cake layers.
Day 2: Make the frosting, ganache, assemble and serve.
Cake Storage
Cake layers can be stored wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Assembled cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.
Let’s Connect
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Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake
Three layers of cinnamon cake, filled and frosted with cinnamon roll cream cheese frosting, topped with cinnamon ganache and mini cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients
SPECIAL TOOLS
- 3 8-inch round cake pans
- Non stick baking spray
- Stand mixer
- 8-inch round cake board
- Cake turntable
CINNAMON CRUMBLE
- 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (4.7 ounces) brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
CINNAMON CAKE
- 1 3/4 cups (10.6 ounces) whole milk, at room temperature
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon roll LorAnn flavoring
- 2/3 (150g/5.3 ounces) cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 4 1/3 cups (17.3 ounces) cake flour
- 2 1/2 cups (17.7 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces, at room temperature, about 65 degrees
CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 1/2 cups (18 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon roll LorAnn flavoring (optional)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 24 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened
CINNAMON GANACHE
- 1 cup cinnamon chips
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
GARNISH
- Homemade or store bought mini cinnamon rolls
- Cinnamon chips
Instructions
CINNAMON CRUMBLE
- Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, butter, honey and cinnamon with a silicone spatula. The mixture should look like clumps of sand. Sprinkle the crumbles over the prepared baking pan and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring halfway through. Let crumble cool and break up any large crumbles with your fingers before using.
CINNAMON CAKE
- Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray and set aside.
- In a 4 cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg whites, extract, flavoring and sour cream.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment attached, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon on low speed until combined. Add butter one tablespoon at a time until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces, about 1 minute. Reserve ½ cup of the milk mixture and pour the remaining to the flour mixture and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the reserved ½ cup milk mixture to the batter and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Do not over mix. The batter may look curdled. Give the batter a final stir by hand with a rubber spatula.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and divide the cinnamon roll crumble between the cake pans and swirl into the batter. Gently tap cake pans on the counter to settle the batter and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 to 35 minutes, switching and rotating pans halfway through baking.
- Let cakes cool in their pans for 15 minutes on cooling racks. Then invert on cooling racks to cool completely.
CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, flavoring, salt and cinnamon. Reduce the speed to low and beat for 1 minute.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the cream cheese in one piece at a time and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Do not over beat or the frosting will become soupy.
ASSEMBLE
- Place a cake layer on a cake board and place on a cake turntable. Spread about 1/2 cup of cream cheese frosting on top in an even layer all the way to the edges of the cake. Place the second cake layer on top and gently press the cake layer to adhere to the frosting. Spread another 1/2 cup of frosting on top of the cake in an even layer, spreading all the way to the edges of the cake. Place the last cake layer on top (bottom side up) and apply a thin coat of frosting over the entire cake, creating a crumb coat. Wipe off any excess frosting from your crumb coat in a separate bowl. Be sure not to get any crumbs into your bowl of clean frosting. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, before applying the final layer of frosting.
- Apply the final coat of frosting all over your chilled cake and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes while you prepare the Cinnamon Ganache.
CINNAMON GANACHE
- In a small glass bowl, add the cinnamon chips and heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir chips until completely melted. Next, place ganache in a squeeze bottle or use a spoon to drip on the sides of the cake. Pour remaining ganache on the center of the cake and using an offset cake spatula, spread out the ganache to cover the top of the cake. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before adding the mini cinnamon rolls.
GARNISH
- Add mini cinnamon rolls on top and sprinkle the top of the cake with a few cinnamon chips and serve.
Notes
Cake layers can be stored wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Assembled cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 903Total Fat: 61gSaturated Fat: 34gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 158mgSodium: 592mgCarbohydrates: 76gFiber: 2gSugar: 34gProtein: 13g
*Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary.*