Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake is the perfect excuse to eat cake for breakfast! Three layers of buttery, cinnamon cake filled with cinnamon buttercream frosting and a sweet cinnamon glaze!
If you have been a reader of my website for any length of time, you know I love a cinnamon cake recipe. Heck, I am a cinnamon dessert fan in general! I’ve made: Easy Cinnamon Roll Cake, Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake, Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Bake, Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls, Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars…heck, I’ve even made a Cinnamon Roll MILKSHAKE to name a few!
SO when I realized I had never made a Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake, I knew I needed to remedy that! Plus, cake for breakfast…you don’t have to twist my arm.
How to make Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake
This cinnamon roll cake recipe is a delicious, buttery, cinnamon cake. It’s soft, with a tender crumb. I use sour cream in this recipe, which adds to the moist texture of this cinnamon cake!
The cinnamon cake batter comes together easily, and makes 3, 8- inch cake layers! And we all know a 3 layer cake means extra frosting. Get excited!
How to make Cinnamon Frosting
When the cakes are baking I made the cinnamon frosting. It’s a creamy cinnamon buttercream frosting recipe, and I’m having dreams of using this on cinnamon rolls!
Also note this recipe makes A TON of frosting. I consider myself to have a heavy hand when it comes to buttercream, and I still had a lot left. I am certainly not complaining, though! And like I said…a little extra cinnamon frosting will be fab on my cinnamon rolls!
A delicious cinnamon glaze adds to the flavor of the cake!
A fun step in this recipe is the addition of a cinnamon glaze that you let soak into the cake. It really packs cinnamon flavor. You mix some brown sugar, cinnamon, powdered sugar, and water together!
When the cakes are baked and cooled you can “level” them with a serrated knife to remove the domes. You do this so as you stack the layers they will be flat.
You spread the glaze right on the top of the cake and let it soak in which happens quickly, especially when you level it…
Now you just spread on some frosting…
And repeat!!
If you feel like getting fancy go ahead and use some of the extra cinnamon frosting to pipe swirls on the tops and/or around the bottom of the cinnamon roll layer cake.
I used Wilton Tip 1M and Wilton disposable piping bags.
Oh, and a healthy sprinkle of cinnamon to cover up my poor piping skills!
Look at the slice! This Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake is a show stopper! This is a cinnamon cake recipe you will make time and time again!
PrintCinnamon Roll Layer Cake
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Yield: serves 10 1x
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This Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake recipe is three layers of buttery, cinnamon cake filled with cinnamon buttercream frosting and a sweet cinnamon glaze!
Ingredients:
Cake
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 6 large egg whites, divided
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (see note)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup water, room temperature
Cinnamon Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
- 12 cups powdered sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (see note)
- 1/4 cup water or milk
Cinnamon Sugar Glaze
- 5 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of 3 (8- inch) cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides. (I used nonstick spray).
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined. Add 3 of the egg whites and mix until well combined. Add the remaining 3 egg whites and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is combined.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a small bowl combine the milk and water. With the mixer on low speed add half of the flour mixture to the batter and mix until combined. Add the milk mixture to the batter and mix until combined. Add the remaining flour and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 3 cake pans. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool 2-3 minutes in the pan and then remove them from the pans onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and shortening together on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add in 6 cups of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add in the vanilla, cinnamon and water or milk and mix until smooth. Slowly add the remaining 6 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Cinnamon Sugar Glaze
- In a small bowl whisk together powdered sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and water until smooth. Set aside.
Assembly
- Use a large serrated knife to carefully remove any domes the cake formed when baking, so they’re flat. Place the first cake on a serving plate. Spread 2 1/2 tablespoons of the glaze over the cake layer. All it to soak into the cake. Spread 1 cup of frosting onto the top of the cake. Repeat the process with the second layer of the cake, and then add the final layer of cake and frost as desired.
Notes:
In the cake I used 2 teaspoons cinnamon.
And in the frosting I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon, while the original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon.
I had quite a bit of frosting leftover, which I am saving for my next batch of cinnamon rolls!
Nutrition Information:
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A few weeks ago I received Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes by Lindsay Conchar. Lindsay is the talent behind the blog, Live, Love and Sugar. She makes some of the most delicious (and beautiful) cakes going right now. This cake recipe is from her book!
Helpful tip… out of sour cream?
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Hi! I’m Shelly and I’m an addict. Of the buttercream sort. I started this site a few years ago as a way to justify my sugary, buttery obsession with desserts. It has worked out well for me so far, because as it turns out you guys all love sugary, buttery desserts too! It feels good to know you're not alone, doesn’t it?
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I made this recipe for my husband’s birthday this past Sunday he absolutely loved it! Cake light and fluffy and frosting totally delicious! But I do have two questions….Should this cake be kept in the refrigerator? For the glaze can you substitute two tablespoons of melted butter for the water? Thank you! I will definitely make this cake again!
This recipe has become a new family favorite (and we are not easy to please)! Thank you so much for introducing us to this amazing recipe!
★★★★★
I just made this cake and it’s extremely moist and flavorful, it tastes just like a cinnamon roll in cake form. The measurements are definitely designed for an 8 inch cake pan, I used a 9 inch and the layers were a lot thinner than I would like. I ended up using a cream cheese cinnamon frosting which cut down the sweetness a little bit. I wanted to attach a picture because I made it into a naked cake and it’s really beautiful but I couldn’t figure out how to put a picture on here. Thank you for sharing this… Read more »
Great! Made this for my best friend’s birthday and wanted to make it a churro cake so I added churro pieces in between the layers and topped with them as well. I subbed in plain greek yogurt for the sour cream abut maybe still a bit to noticeable for me. I also added about double the cinnamon, as both my best friend and I are cinnamon fanatics!
★★★★★
I made this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday. Came out perfect . It was delicious. . The best cake I’ve made and tasted.. I plan to make this cake many many more times!
★★★★★
Love hearing that!!
If I wanted to make the layers ahead of time and freeze them before frosting would I put the glaze on before freezing?
I know it’s a little late to reply to this question, but I am new to the post and thought it may be helpful if anyone going forward has this question. I would not glaze or cut the tops off prior to freezing. Wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap first and then foil over the plastic wrap. When your ready to decorate thaw cake then cut and glaze.
Hi!
When you add egg whites to batter you beat them before you added it or you just added it unbeaten?
Thank you for your answer
Unbeaten. This recipe is from a book I noted below the recipe, so I didn’t create the method, but it turns out great!
Hi, I’m a bit of a perfectionist and would really enjoy trying this recipe. I was just wondering if you have the recipe in grams instead of cups?
Hello Shelly! I am planning on making this cake but I usually make my cakes a day before I frost them so I wrap them in saran wrap and I was wondering if I should add the cinnamon sugar glaze before I wrap them or after I take them out and I am about to frost it? Thank you in advance!!
You can add it the the day you make it and just leave it in the pan!
If I want to make a smaller cake than this, would I be able to just half all the ingredients’ measurements and it would still turn out okay?
should work!
That’s exactly what I did!
Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake was a hit with my family. Cake itself was super moist. Cinnamon flavor was spot on- not too overwhelming. Only criticism I have is regarding the frosting. I personally thought that the shortening taste in the frosting was a little too strong. Although, the rest of the family didn’t feel the same as I. We will definitely try this recipe again, but next time I’m going to experiment and change the ratio of shortening to butter in the frosting from 50/50 to something more like 25/75…
★★★★
Glad you enjoyed! You coulda absolutely use butter in place of the shortening!
Yes! I made it using all butter and it was great! Also added more cinnamon and a touch of bourbon!
Made this recipe into cupcakes for my husband to take with him during his next shift at the hospital. The cupcakes are the perfect kind of dense and moist!! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes and hard work!! I made the buttercream and I’m sure it’s something I did wrong, but all I can taste is the vegetable shortening. I’m a novice buttercream maker, so I’ll have to see if I can figure out what I did wrong or find a way to substitute the shortening with something else or use a different buttercream. It almost has a… Read more »
Only used half the icing and used a crumb topping made of butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Didnt have any shortening for the icing but still tastes amazihg
★★★★★
Your cake looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing your picture!
Making this for my husband’s birthday later this month. Tha is for putting the sour cream substitution on the page as we have a relative who is allergic to sour cream. Thinking of putting a crumb topping around the sides
Oooh, great idea with the crumb topping!
Just made the cake part and they are terribly flat. There’s no “dome” on top for me to cut off so I’m questioning whether the glaze will soak in at all. Any tips you can give would be greatly appreciated! I’m either going to remake this recipe or search for a new one.
Thanks!