High Altitude Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Sugar
This high altitude snickerdoodle bundt cake is so incredibly soft, tender and fluffy. The cake is brushed with melted butter and then covered in cinnamon sugar.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Bundt Pan (12 cup capacity) ("Original" bundt pan design)
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 oz full fat cream cheese (block style), softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 4-5 large eggs (Use 4 or 5 large eggs to equal 1 full cup of eggs, filled to the 8 ounce line in a liquid measuring cup. My eggs were on the small side, so I needed 5.)
- 4 tsp vanilla extract (you can substitute half the extract with vanilla bean paste or scrape a vanilla bean for a richer vanilla flavor)
- 3 cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg or cardamom (optional)
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ⅓ cups buttermilk (or use 1 1/3 cups whole milk + 1 tsp white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
Cinnamon Sugar
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly grease a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick baking spray (or use your favorite go to combination of butter/shortening and flour to grease and dust the pan, getting it in all the nooks and crannies.)
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed (#4-6 on a Kitchen Aid mixer) for 7 minutes. Scrape the bowl down several times while mixing.
- Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating in each egg on medium speed for 1 full minute before adding the next egg. Add the vanilla.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and spices. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour. Increase speed to medium and beat for 15 seconds.
- Spread the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for about 50-55 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the cooling rack and cool for an hour or two, until the cake is just warm or room temperature.
Cinnamon Sugar
- Melt the butter, then use a pastry brush to brush the butter all over the top and sides of the cake. This will give the cinnamon sugar something to stick to.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.Set the cake, still on the cooling rack, over a baking sheet to catch the cinnamon sugar. The easiest way to cover the cake with cinnamon sugar is to take a dry pastry brush, scoop up the cinnamon sugar with the brush, and drag it up the sides and over the top of the cake. This will coat the cake in an even layer of cinnamon sugar, and is easier than trying to press it onto the cake with your hand. Gather up what falls off onto the baking sheet and brush the cinnamon sugar onto the cake 2 or 3 times until it's sufficiently covered.Note: You should not try to pick up the cake to dip it in the cinnamon sugar. The cake is too big, and you'll end up breaking it apart trying to do this.
- Carefully slide a spatula (or a large cake lifter) under the cake to loosen it from the cooling rack, then gently transfer the cake to a serving plate.
- Serve the cake slightly warm, or completely cooled to room temperature.
Notes
Store the leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
For a 10-cup bundt pan, scale the recipe down to 3/4. For a smaller 6 cup bundt pan, scale the recipe down to 1/2. You'll have to experiment with shorter bake times, testing the cake for doneness.
You can use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. Cake flour will make a lighter, fluffier, more tender cake, while all-purpose flour will make it a bit more dense, like a snickerdoodle pound cake.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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