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Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe

A cinnamon roll cake that is perfectly fun for sweet birthday mornings.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword birthday cake, Cinnamon Roll Cake, coffee cake
Prep Time 42 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 12 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 230 kcal

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 1 package 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup whole milk warmed
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4-1/2 cups flour plus more as needed
  • 1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into chunks

For the caramel

  • 6 tbsp butter melted
  • 1 cup firmly pack light brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp dark honey pinch of salt
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

For the filling

  • 4 tbsp butter at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the cream cheese icing

  • 2-1/2 oz cream cheese softened
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar more if needed

Instructions

Start by making the dough

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add the granulated sugar, eggs, flour, and salt. Attach the dough hook and knead on low speed, adding a little more flour if needed, until all your ingredients come together. Toss in the butter and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and springy, about 7 minutes.
  3. Lightly oil a large bowl. Form the dough into a ball, put it in the bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature until it is doubled in size, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
  4. While the dough is rising butter the pans, we used an 8-inch, 6-inch, and 4-inch round cake pans for the stacked cake and an 8-inch for the single layer cake.

Make the caramel

  1. Stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, honey, salt, and pecans. Divide and spread the mixture in each pan.
  2. Punch down the dough and dump onto a floured work surface.
  3. Cut the dough in half. Roll out each half into a rectangle about 10 by 15 inches. Position the rectangles vertically.

Fill the dough

  1. Spread each rectangle with 2 tablespoons of the room temperature butter, then half of the brown sugar and half of the cinnamon. Take a pizza cutter or sharp knife and cut about 8 strips from each rectangle.

To make the center of each "cake" take one strip and starting at the end closest to you, loosely roll up the strip. Place the roll in the center of the pan. Coil the remaining strips around the center roll by joining the strip to the end of the previous one, until the pan is filled. Continue these steps for the other pans. You may have leftover strips of filled dough which you can make into regular cinnamon rolls.

  1. Cover the pans loosely with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm, draft-free spot until puffy, about 1 hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake until the cakes are golden brown, 25-30 minutes (watch the smaller pans for doneness sooner). If some parts of the cake start to rise more than others, take a spatula or cake server and lightly press down on the spot.