Cinnamon Coffee Cake, served with Cream Cheese Icing
This old-fashioned cinnamon coffee cake is baked in a Bundt pan, full of cinnamon swirls, and topped with a simple cream cheese icing. Straightforward and rich!
Over the last couple of years, we've invited all of you to send us your favorite recipes, and send you did! We've received hundreds of recipes from you lovely readers, and we have enjoyed baking and cooking our way through them. As is usually the case when we're poring over tons of recipes, we're naturally drawn to any that came from a mom or grandma or that have a long family history. Which brings us to this fabulous cinnamon coffee cake!
This recipe was sent to us by Joanna, who had previously shared it on her own blog. She said that both her mom and grandma used to make this, and it was a Christmas morning tradition. Family recipe and holiday traditions? Totally speaking our food love language!
Can we talk about Christmas traditions in August? Because we are SO READY to embrace cooler weather and everything it entails. Bring on fall and the holidays!
This cake, as you might imagine, was ridiculously straightforward to mix. A simple butter and sour cream batter comes together easily and layers with a cinnamon-sugar filling. We loved how high the cake rose and how regal it looked when we turned it out of the Bundt pan.
Don’t Bundt cakes just have this air of totally simple and no-fuss but elegant all at the same time? There’s a crazy ying and yang going on there, and we just adore them.
Joanna’s cake did not include any icing, and in truth, it is totally rich on its own, but we just couldn’t stare at a naked cake and not put SOMETHING on it. It’s in our baker’s blood. We thought a simple cream cheese glaze would be reliable – it’s not overpowering, but kind of gives it that cinnamon roll vibe, which, hello, is never, ever a bad thing. It’s a great little addition, but if you prefer to skip it, we think you could even serve the plain cinnamon coffee cake warm and not need to cool it completely.
We served this cake for Sunday dinner and it was a massive hit, there were lots of second and third helpings happening, so it’s a total winner with our family. We hope you enjoy this as much as Joanna’s family has, and as much as ours did!
And now we totally have to ask – do you have a Christmas breakfast tradition? We want to hear all about them!
Do you see that chunk of cake off to the right that we dug into?
While we were snapping this photo, a certain rosy-cheeked toddler came ambling in from outside and swiped it right off the plate. He polished it off in a split second and declared, “good! good!” so it also has Joseph’s seal of approval ;-)
One year ago: No Bake 5-Ingredient Granola Bars
Two years ago: Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart
Five years ago: Peach Strudel
Six years ago: Honey Fig Scones
Seven years ago: Lemon Bar
Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Yield: 10 to 12 servings This old-fashioned cinnamon coffee cake is baked in a Bundt pan, full of cinnamon swirls, and topped with a simple cream cheese icing. Straightforward and rich!For the Cake
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons (2.5 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1½ cups (340.5 g) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1½ cups (345 ml) sour cream
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) baking soda
- 1½ tablespoons (1.5 tablespoons) vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Filling
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, soft
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons milk
Equipment Used
- 12-cup Bundt pan
- Hand mixer
- Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a standard 12-cup Bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing until just combined after each.
- In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and baking soda (it will start to fizzle and foam!), then add it to the cake batter and fold it in with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Make the Cinnamon Filling: In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon until completely combined.
- Bake the Cake: Place one-third of the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle half of the cinnamon filling over top of the batter. Cover with another third of the batter, then the remaining cinnamon filling, then finally the remaining batter. Smooth into an even layer.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with plush crumbs. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the Cream Cheese Icing: In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until completely combined, then stir in the vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to get the desired consistency; for us, 4 tablespoons was the sweet spot of being thick like we wanted, but still dripping a bit down the sides of the cake.
- Drizzle the cream cheese icing over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one serving
- Yield: 10 to 12 servings
- Prep: 30 minutes
- Cook: 1 hour
- Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups ( 375 g ) all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons ( 2.5 teaspoons ) baking powder
- 1½ cups ( 340.5 g ) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups ( 300 g ) granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1½ cups ( 345 ml ) sour cream
- 1½ teaspoons ( 1.5 teaspoons ) baking soda
- 1½ tablespoons ( 1.5 tablespoons ) vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Filling
- ½ cup ( 110 g ) light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, soft
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces ( 113.4 g ) cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup ( 60 g ) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons milk
Equipment Used
- 12-cup Bundt pan
- Hand mixer
Method
- Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a standard 12-cup Bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing until just combined after each.
- In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and baking soda (it will start to fizzle and foam!), then add it to the cake batter and fold it in with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Make the Cinnamon Filling: In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon until completely combined.
- Bake the Cake: Place one-third of the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle half of the cinnamon filling over top of the batter. Cover with another third of the batter, then the remaining cinnamon filling, then finally the remaining batter. Smooth into an even layer.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with plush crumbs. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the Cream Cheese Icing: In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until completely combined, then stir in the vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to get the desired consistency; for us, 4 tablespoons was the sweet spot of being thick like we wanted, but still dripping a bit down the sides of the cake.
- Drizzle the cream cheese icing over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
