High Altitude Cinnamon Roll Cake
This cinnamon roll cake starts with an easy vanilla cake batter that's swirled with a buttery, brown sugar and cinnamon swirl, then finished with sweet vanilla icing.
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
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup whole milk, slightly warmed
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
Swirl
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tbsp all purpose flour
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, very soft
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Melt the butter, then brush about 2 teaspoons of the melted butter over the bottom and sides of a 9x9 inch square baking pan (or just use non-stick baking spray).
- In a bowl, whisk together the rest of the melted butter the milk, egg, vanilla and sugar.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom together, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 15 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Swirl
- In a bowl, use a spatula to combine the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and butter until smooth.
- Dollop the mixture over the cake batter, then use a knife to gently swirl it in.
Bake
- Bake the cake for about 30-32 minutes, or until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then add the icing.
Icing
- Combine the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth, then spread over the hot cake in a thin layer. The icing will drip into all the crevices created by the brown sugar cinnamon swirl.
- Cool for about 30 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
The cake will be more dense when it cools to room temperature. You can warm up leftover portions of cake in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds on 50% power for a soft, just-baked texture.
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