Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake

This recipe for Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake is rich & buttery ribboned with a cinnamon swirl baked to golden brown perfection then topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting. Step by step photos teach you how to bake this cinnamon pound cake recipe!

I made cinnamon roll blondies recently an it really got me on my cinnamon roll flavor kick. Cuz I was too damn lazy to make cinnamon rolls, even though its actually easy to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. Once those blondies were gone though I still needed something cinnamon roll esque. So here comes the Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake...

The cake is moist and dense with lots of swirls of brown sugar cinnamony goodness. With the cinnamon swirl giving the top of the cake a sweet crunch, against the creamy cream cheese frosting, this cake was irresistible.

I found myself talking to myself about how good it was. My sister said " One of the best things you've ever made!"

This recipe is based on my classic cream cheese pound cake recipe, simple and classic!

Let's get to the recipe.

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• Ingredients
• Instructions
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Ingredients

For this easy loaf cake there are three components. For the cake you will need:

• Unsalted Butter. Butter provides richness, flavor, and moisture for the cake. You'll need it at room temperature to fully beat up nice and fluffy.
• Cream Cheese. This also needs to be at room temperature to evenly combine with the butter. The cream cheese provides a nice tang and loads of moisture to the base of the pound cake.
• Sugar. Normally for a pound cake just plain white sugar would be needed but to go with the flavor profile of a cinnamon roll, we'll use a combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar.
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Vanilla helps flavor the whole cake and the warmy vanilla flavor pairs perfectly with the warmth of the cinnamon.
• Large Eggs. Eggs provide richness and structure to the cake. For your eggs to evenly incorporate you need them at room temperature. To do this quickly place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes before you use them.
• Cake Flour. Cake flour has less protein content in it than all-purpose flour to create a more tender cake texture.
• Salt. Just a little will help bring out all of the flavors.
• Sour Cream. Adding a little sour cream to the cake batter helps add moisture and tenderness to the cake.

Now to get the cinnamon roll flavor you'll need to make the cinnamon filling swirl.

• Unsalted Butter. The melted butter will combine everything together plus provide the gooey swirly factor!
• Ground Cinnamon. Good quality cinnamon makes a difference!
• Light Brown Sugar. The molasses in brown sugar adds to the warmth of the cinnamon flavors.

Now for the topping, we'll make a classic cream cheese icing!

• Cream Cheese. The base of the frosting, the cream cheeses need to be at room temperature. You can place the foil-wrapped block of cream cheese in a waterproof plastic bag and place it in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes to soften the cream cheese. Be careful you don't want melted cream cheese!
• Confectioner's Sugar. Also known as powdered sugar this will sweeten the cream cheese and loosen it for frosting consistency.
• Heavy Cream. This creams up the frosting ever so delicously!
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Just a bit warms up the frosting and gives it great flavor!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease a 9X5 loaf pan, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the cream cheese and butter, beat until combined and light and fluffy.

Add in both sugars and beat until fully combined, a minute or two.

Mix in vanilla and one egg at a time, mixing on low.

Add half of the cake flour and all of the salt to the wet batter and fold in until just combined. Add in the sour cream, mix until just combined.

Then add the remaining cake flour and mix until just combined. You want to do this carefully not to over beat the batter.

Set the cake batter aside while you prepare the cinnamon filling.

In a small bowl mix together the melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

Pour half of the cake batter into the pan then using a spoon place dollops of half of the cinnamon mixture scattered over the top of the batter then spread the remaining batter on top into an even layer.

Then dollop the remaining cinnamon swirl mixture on top and use a butter knife or skewer to lightly swirl. 

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 52-60 minutes, OR until a toothpick inserted in comes out with no wet batter. Set on a wire rack to let the cake cool for 30 minutes then invert the cake onto the wire rack to cool completely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese for one minute. Then on the low-speed beat in the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.

Once the powdered sugar is combined turn the mixer on high and beat for 3 minutes.

Once the cake has cooled add the cream cheese frosting, sprinkle ground cinnamon on top if desired.

Slice and serve. Store cake leftovers in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

More cinnamon recipes

My cinnamon roll cheesecake is so delicious, the creamy base of cheesecake pairs beautifully with cinnamon!

This carrot layer cake recipe will be your favorite, it's a winner at every party I take it to!

These cinnamon roll macarons are so cute!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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This recipe was originally published on June 19, 2016 as of June 26 2021 the recipe had photos have been updated.