This Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake makes a delicious breakfast or dessert. Cinnamon glaze is the literal “icing on the cake” in this easy bundt recipe!
Love bundt cake? Our pumpkin bundt cake is a delicious fall treat, with swirls of cheesecake in the middle. Or give our chocolate zucchini bundt cake a try next, with it’s fudgy icing!
Table of Contents
Why This Cake is Best
Time to dust off your tube pans, friends. You do not want to miss out on this cinnamon cake!
Don’t have a bundt pan? This Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake is baked in a sheet pan instead. Or try our Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake for something different!
- Beautiful classic bundt shape.
- Moist, soft and sweet.
- Swirled with cinnamon.
- Drizzled with cinnamon glaze!
Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake has it all. Like all of the best coffee cakes, it’s one you can enjoy any time of day.
Enjoy it for breakfast with a fresh mug of coffee. Or serve it as dessert after a long day. The warming cinnamon flavor and aroma make it a great choice for the holidays, but we’d happily eat it all year long.
Ingredient Notes
This cake starts with a simple batter made with familiar ingredients like butter, eggs, flour and sugar.
Here’s what you need to add that “cinnamon swirl” factor.
- Cinnamon – Adding cinnamon to the batter infuses the entire cake with that warm, sweet spice flavor.
- Brown sugar – It’s combined with more cinnamon to create the filling swirled into the batter.”
- Cinnamon glaze – Powdered sugar, milk are combined with even more cinnamon to create the icing drizzled over the baked cake.
Tips and Tricks
My favorite part of this cake is the swirls of cinnamon filling inside! Here’s how to create a pretty swirl pattern with the cinnamon sugar.
- Add half the batter to your bundt pan.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar all over the batter.
- Pour the rest of your batter on top.
It really is that easy. When the cake is baked, cooled and sliced you’ll see the perfect cinnamon swirl layer in the center.
The cinnamon glaze is another element that sets this cake apart from the crowd.
Ideally, the glaze should be thin enough to pour, but thick enough to set up on the cake without dripping off.
You can make it as thin or as thick as you want, just by adding more milk. If you accidentally make it too watery, just whisk in more powdered sugar until you get the right consistency.
How to get Bundt Cake out of pan
For years I couldn’t get the perfect “release” on my bundt cakes.
And I realized it has 99% to do with the pan. After purchasing this pan, no issues. EVER.
- I usually wipe it with a little crisco and sprinkle with flour, and voila…it releases EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. You can also use the baking spray that has flour in it, if you prefer. I’m always afraid that it will cause build up in my bundt pan and affect the non-stick aspect of the pan.
- Our homemade goop (or cake release) is perfect for bundt pans too.
Don’t forget to make the cinnamon glaze. I made a very thin glaze, unlike some of my other “frostings.” Remember, you want to make sure that people accept this “cake” as breakfast, haha, so don’t overdo it on the frosting. Otherwise it will take some convincing!
How to store a Bundt Cake
- Store this cake, covered, in a cake saver or airtight container at room temperature. Will stay delicious for about 4-5 days.
- You can freeze this Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake too!
- Wrap slices in plastic wrap and place in freezer safe container or ziploc bag. Thaw overnight at room temperature and enjoy.
More Easy Cake Recipes
- Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake: rich and fudgy, this is a great recipe to add a little extra veggies without the kids knowing!
- Pina Colada Pound Cake: perfect pound cake with rum flavor, pineapple and coconut!
- Carrot Bundt Cake: delicious carrot cake with cheesecake filling and cream cheese frosting!
- Applesauce Cake
- Hummingbird Cake
Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup milk
For the Filling:
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- For the cake, grease and flour a bundt pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat in softened butter until mixture is crumbly. Add in eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and milk. Beat for 3-4 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling. Use a fork to blend evenly.
- Pour half of the cake batter into the bundt pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter. Top with the remaining cake batter.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until browned. Allow to cool in pan about 10 minutes, then flip onto a cake plate and cool completely.
- For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp milk and cinnamon. Add more milk if needed to get desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake. Store covered at room temperature for 4-5 days. ENJOY.
Notes
- My favorite part of this cake is the swirls of cinnamon filling inside! Here’s how to create a pretty swirl pattern with the cinnamon sugar.
- Add half the batter to your bundt pan.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar all over the batter.
- Pour the rest of your batter on top.
- The cinnamon glaze is another element that sets this cake apart from the crowd. Ideally, the glaze should be thin enough to pour, but thick enough to set up on the cake without dripping off.
I made this cake and although it tasted amazing, I had the same problem I’m reading from others: hard rock cinnamon sugar. Any suggestions? Should I add butter to the cinnamon sugar? It was even difficult to cut cake when the inside cinnamon swirl touched the pan. Maybe a cup was too much?! Please let me know, thanks!
I was looking for an easy bundt recipe to break in my new bundt pan I got for Mother’s day and the hubs suggested cinnamon and this is the one I went with. I just made it. It tastes great. But the brown sugar/cinnamon mix that goes into the middle is SO MUCH. There was so much of it, that it fused together into a rock-like substance and adhered to the side of the pan. I had to soak for a bit and use a sharp knife to get it to come off in places. The cake broke off in several pieces because of this. If I make this again, I’d halve the brown sugar/cinnamon and make sure it goes in the middle of the ring, not touching the sides. It totally ruined the look of this cake.
I used a standard bundt pan and only cooked it 50 minutes and it was overdone and a bit dry. My oven is a perfect 350 degrees so that’s not the issue. Needs more butter or maybe a bit of oil? I also used less of the filling, about 2/3 cup, and had no issue with it splitting. It has a great flavor though just wish I would have gone with my gut and taken it out around 40 minutes. I also made a cream cheese/butter frosting with the powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, omitting the milk.
I used a standard bundt pan and only cooked it 50 minutes and it was overdone and a bit dry. My oven is a perfect 350 degrees so that’s not the issue. Needs more butter or maybe a bit of oil? I also used less of the filling, about 2/3 cup, and had no issue with it splitting. It has a great flavor though just wish I would have gone with my gut and taken it out around 40 minutes. I also made a cream cheese/butter frosting with the powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, omitting the milk.
Oh my gosh, so good! I love cinnamon (and bundt cakes – they’re so easy!) and this was the perfect result. After I put half the batter in the pan, I put 3/4 of the cinnamon sugar on it, put the other half of the batter on top, sprinkled the remaining cinnamon sugar on top and then swirled everything lightly. This avoided any issues like the top and bottom separating when turned out of the pan. Make sure you grease the pan Really Well though, other wise the sugar will glue itself to the sides of the pan. (A little of the cinnamon sugar on top didn’t bake in all the way and spilled on the counter when I turned it out. So beware! ) All I all though, excellent cake!
I did more than one batch in one pan. It took too long to cook and it overflowed from pan. I don’t know if because of that it was a bit dry. The dough came out somewhat dry so I don’t know if it was the order of the ingredients. I don’t know if I’ll try it again.