Cinnamon Swirl Cake

Do you ever wish for more hours in the day? More time to tackle your to-do list, more time to spend with family and friends, more time to sleep??

Lately, I’ve definitely been searching for more time. So when I needed to make a cake for a coworker’s going away party, I needed it to be fast. There is a time and a place for extravagant cakes (click here to see one of my favorites!) but this definitely wasn’t the time to spend hours decorating. I had to throw something together that looked presentable but tasted delicious.

Enter this cinnamon swirl cake.

The reason I love this cake is simple…..it’s simple! No crazy ingredients, it can be thrown together in a matter of minutes, AND everyone loved it. Use whatever white or vanilla cake recipe you love, add the cinnamon swirl, bake, and frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting.

The flavor of this cake is like a cinnamon roll but a little less sweet. Best of all, your house will smell amazing as it bakes!

 

Makes one 13X9 cake

• Your favorite vanilla cake recipe, prepared (homemade or from a box)
• Cinnamon swirl
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, unpacked
  • 1 Tbsp flour
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• Cream cheese frosting (canned or homemade)

Preheat oven to temp specified by your cake batter recipe. Line the bottom of a 13X9 pan with parchment paper. Spray sides of the pan with nonstick spray.

Prepare your favorite vanilla cake batter and pour into prepared pan.

In a small bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together until well combined. Drop tablespoons of cinnamon swirl mixture on top of batter.

Using a butter knife, swirl cinnamon mix into cake batter in a figure 8 pattern. Swirl until cinnamon mix is spread around cake (do not mix in completely).

Bake as specified by your cake batter recipe (or by box instructions if you’re using a mix).

Allow cake to cool. Frost and decorate as desired.

 

Here’s how I decorated my version: I sliced the cake into two layers and filled with cream cheese frosting. Then, frosted the entire cake and piped borders along the bottom and top edges. For a final touch, I sprinkled cinnamon along the top border.

 

Another “for special occasions” recipe (aka it isn’t one of my healthy recipes) but great for a quick and easy dessert that will impress a crowd!

Now, off to tackle more of my to-do list…..

Advertisement