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Cinnamon Bundt Cake is one of my favorite cakes to bake for a holiday breakfast. Every slice has a dark band of brown sugar and cinnamon running through the middle, and a cream cheese icing drizzled over the top. This is a cinnamon roll bundt cake made from a poured buttermilk batter, and it makes fourteen generous slices from one pan. Bake it the day before and it’s ready to slice in the morning.
Is there anything better than warm homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast? Nope. There is not, unless maybe it’s buttermilk pancakes. Or biscuits. But I digress…if you enjoy cinnamon rolls for breakfast, you will absolutely LOVE this cake. It’s got all the cinnamon roll flavor but without the rising, rolling, cutting, rising again process!
I love giving this cake as a gift for someone who’s just had a baby — or just a rough day — because it keeps for days and is perfect comfort food.
Testing results for cinnamon bundt cake
- I highly recommend using the butter and flour method for greasing a bundt cake pan with lots of small divots. I tried using shortening the first time I tested this cake, and it completely broke apart, even with a nonstick pan.
- I’ve made this cake with a plain powdered sugar glaze, which is perfectly fine. However, we prefer the cream cheese icing.
I hope you make this recipe. I think you’ll love it!
Ingredient notes
Here are a few things to know about the ingredients.
➡️➡️➡️ The full ingredient amounts and instructions are listed below on the printable recipe card. Scroll below the recipe card for frequently asked questions and tips for success.
Eggs. Six eggs sounds like a lot, but it gives this a close, tender crumb, nearer to a cinnamon pound cake than to a light layer cake.
Buttermilk. A full cup, and I use full-fat. The acid in it softens the crumb, so the cake bakes up tender rather than tight.
Cinnamon. Three teaspoons in all. One goes into the batter and the other two into the filling, so the middle layer tastes much stronger than the cake around it.
Related 📖 ➡️ Buttermilk in Southern cooking
Pin this now to save it for laterHow to make cinnamon bundt cake
- Beat the eggs and granulated sugar together, then mix in the buttermilk, oil, melted butter, and vanilla.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and mix only until they disappear into the batter.
- Whisk the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a separate bowl. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan, spread it level, and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture across it. The remaining batter goes over the top to cover it. That layer in the middle is the swirl in a cinnamon swirl bundt cake.
- Bake, then let the cake rest in the pan before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.
- Beat the cream cheese smooth, add the powdered sugar and milk, and drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.
Making the cream cheese icing
This is a thin pouring icing rather than a thick frosting, so it runs down into the ridges of the cake and sets there. Beat the cream cheese by itself first, before the powdered sugar and milk go in, because cold or lumpy cream cheese will not smooth out once the sugar is in the bowl.
The cake has to be completely cool before any icing touches it. On a warm cake the drizzle runs straight down the sides and pools at the base of the plate.
If what you’re after is a cinnamon roll bundt cake with cream cheese frosting thick enough to spread, make my Cream Cheese Frosting instead and swirl it over the top once the cake has cooled.
Getting the cake out of the pan
A bundt pan with a lot of small divots holds onto batter in a way a plain tube pan doesn’t. Softened butter worked into every one of those divots, followed by a dusting of flour that you tap out, gives the cake something to release from.
For whatever reason, shortening doesn’t work well with this cake. I greased the pan with it the first time I made this cake and the whole thing came apart on the way out.
Timing is also important. The cake needs ten to fifteen minutes cooling time in the pan to firm up at the edges, and then it needs to come out. If you let it cool all the way down in the pan, the sugar at the edges sets against the metal and the cake tears when you finally turn it out.
Variations
- Melted butter instead of the oil. Use the same amount, melted and cooled first. The trade is more butter flavor for a slightly less moist crumb.
- Homemade buttermilk. Stir a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a cup of milk and let it stand ten minutes before using it. (This is a last resort method for me because I prefer commercial buttermilk.)
- A powdered sugar glaze. Leave the cream cheese out and thin the powdered sugar with milk on its own. It sets firmer on the cake and dries to a matte finish.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below!
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Cinnamon Bundt Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Icing
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a bundt pan with softened butter, working it into every divot, then dust with flour and tap out the excess.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat 6 large eggs and 2 cups granulated sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add 1 cup buttermilk, 1 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup butter, melted, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and mix well.
- Slowly mix in 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon salt until just combined. (You can whisk these ingredients together in a separate bowl if it makes you feel better, but I find that step to be unnecessary in this cake.)
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup brown sugar, packed and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
- Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and spread it level.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the batter.
- Then add the remaining batter until the brown sugar layer is covered.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.
- Beat 3 ounces cream cheese, softened until smooth and creamy.
- Add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk and beat until pourable.
- Drizzle the icing evenly over the completely cooled cake.
Nutrition
Questions and tips
Storage
Make ahead. Bake the cinnamon bundt cake a day or two before you need it, cool it completely, and keep it in an airtight container. Add the icing the day you plan to serve it.
Storage. An iced cinnamon bundt cake keeps in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. To freeze it, set the slices on a baking sheet and place in the freezer until frozen. Then wrap the separate the slices with wax paper or plastic wrap, seal them in a zip-top freezer bag, and use them within three months.
No. A hand mixer handles it, and you can also do the whole thing with a whisk and a little elbow grease.
Layer it. The brown sugar and cinnamon are meant to go between the two halves of batter. If you mix it in, it will change the whole texture of the cake.
The cream cheese may have been cold, or the powdered sugar was added before the cream cheese was fully smooth. Beat the cream cheese on its own until there are no lumps left in it, then add the powdered sugar and milk.
You sure can. There’s a full cup of brown sugar layered through the middle and two cups of granulated sugar in the batter, so a cinnamon bundt cake this size is plenty sweet on its own.
