Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Savour this simple, delicious, moist, homemade cinnamon bundt that's easy to make and sure to please the crowd.

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Why You Will Love This Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
How to Make a Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Pro Tips for this Recipe
Storage and Freezing
Cinnamon Bundt Cake FAQ
Pin for Later
📖 Recipe

I love my gingerbread bundt cake and decided to add a cinnamon bundt cake to my cake collection. But something that was a little different from my cinnamon roll cake (which is divine!).

This cinnamon bundt cake has cinnamon in the cake batter, with an optional cinnamon sugar swirl and a simple icing glaze. A perfectly simple cake that is full of warm cinnamon spice. A great cake for the cooler months when you are craving the comfort of cinnamon.

Why You Will Love This Cinnamon Bundt Cake

If you love cinnamon then you will absolutely adore this cinnamon bundt cake as it is full of that delicious cinnamon flavor.
It's a super simple bundt cake that will impress!
The cake is moist, and tender with a fine crumb.
This cake is not overly sweet, with the icing glaze just topping off the cake and not overpowering the flavor of the cake.

Ingredients

Here are some notes on the ingredients used in this recipe. Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Butter adds flavour, softness, and moisture and sometimes aids in the leavening of baked goods. I use New Zealand butter in my recipes, which has approximately 82% butterfat and can be very yellow (similar to European or Irish butter). Butter cannot be substituted with butter or margarine spreads, but it can be substituted with baking margarine.

Salt is a crucial ingredient in all baked goods. I use table salt in all my recipes. One teaspoon of table salt equals 1.5 teaspoons of Morton Kosher Salt equals 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal.

Ground cinnamon gives this cake its delicious cinnamon flavor.

White and brown sugar is used to sweeten this cake. The brown sugar keeps this cake super moist.

Milk - whole or full-fat milk is recommended.

Greek or greek-style plain yogurt really adds nice moisture and the slightest tang. A non-sweetened, unflavored, plain yogurt must be used.

Plain/all-purpose/standard grade flour can be substituted on a 1-to-1 basis for recipes that have ½ to 1 teaspoon of baking powder per 125 grams/1 cup of flour. If the recipe requires more than 1 teaspoon per cup, add the extra baking powder to the recipe to make up the difference. Self-raising/rising flours may already contain salt so this may need to be omitted from the recipe as well.

Test the freshness of your baking powder or baking soda (bicarbonate of soda or bread soda) by placing a small amount in some boiling water. If it bubbles and fizzes, it's good to use!

Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar, powdered sugar) to make the icing glaze for this cake.

Room Temperature Ingredients

Use room-temperature ingredients! Using room temperature ingredients ensures that ingredients in the batter or dough will incorporate easier. Take note that room temperature refers to around 20°C/68F.

To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place them into warm water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
To bring butter to room temperature quickly, cut the butter into cubes and zap it in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or place the cubes in a bowl over warm water (such as with a double boiler) over low heat for 1 minute!
Milk, buttermilk, and cream can be brought to room temperature by zapping in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or on low heat for a minute or two swirling every 10-15 seconds.
If the butter is too warm/soft for baking - pop it into the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Weighing Ingredients

Weighing ingredients is more accurate than measuring cups overall, and this is my recommendation for my recipes as they are all developed and tested using grams only.

However, I have activated the grams-to-cup conversions on the recipe card. Simply click on "cups" underneath the ingredient list. For these conversions, cups are equal to 236mL/8 fluid ounces, tablespoons are 15mL and teaspoons are 5mL.

Measuring cups and spoons are an essential addition to every kitchen! Especially if you don't use a kitchen scale. Invest in a set to ensure you add the correct ingredients for accurate measuring. When in doubt - always use a level spoon or cup measure.

How to Make a Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F. Grease the bundt pan and then dust lightly with flour. Tap the excess flour out of the tin and set aside. Optional extra - combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.

NOTE - I used soft butter on a paper napkin to spread the butter around the bundt tin.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for 2 to 3 minutes. Or until the mixture has lightened and is fluffy.

Step 3: Add in the vanilla and the eggs one at a time and beat until well combined.

Step 4: Add in the cinnamon, yogurt, and milk, and beat until well combined.

Step 5: Add half the flour, the baking powder, and the salt. Mix through until combined. Then add in the rest of the flour to form a smooth but thick batter.

Step 6: If using the cinnamon swirl, scoop half the batter into the bundt tin, and smooth out with the back of a spoon leaving a slight indentation through the middle of the batter. Then spoon in the cinnamon sugar into the small indentation before topping and smoothing over the second half of the batter. If leaving out the cinnamon swirl, scoop the batter into the tin and smooth out with a slight indentation in the middle.

Step 6 - Half the batter smoothed into the bundt tin.

Step 6 - Cinnamon sugar swirl on top of the cake batter.

Step 6 - Second half of cake batter smoothed into the bundt tin.

Step 7: Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the cake tester or toothpick comes out mostly clean. Do not overbake.

Step 8: Allow the cake to rest in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a wired cooling rack to cool. Allow the cake to cool completely.

NOTE: If the cake feels like it is sticking, use a plastic or bamboo knife to gently loosen the cake from the tin.

Step 9: In a small bowl, combine the icing sugar and milk/water to create a pourable glaze. Pour or spoon the glaze over the cooled cake. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Pro Tips for this Recipe

Ovens & Air Fryers

The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F, or the gas mark by 1.

For baking, a general rule is to have the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

For best baking results invest in an oven thermometer, as the temperature dials on the oven may not be accurate. Place the thermometer in the middle of the center rack for the most accurate results. I hang my oven thermometer off the center of my oven rack.

Keep in mind that all ovens work slightly differently and bake times may need to be adjusted slightly for your specific oven.

Bakeware

Metal bakeware (if you can, choose light-colored bakeware for an even better bake) is superior when it comes to baking biscuits, cookies, brownies, muffins and quick bread, scones, cakes. These heat up and cool down faster than glassware. Glassware is heavier, heats up and cools down slower than metal, and is more suited for bread puddings, pies, crisps, crumbles, and cobblers.

Baking Flat Cakes

To ensure you get layers or a sheet cake as flat as possible, check the following:

The oven temperature. An oven that is too hot will result in domed cakes, meaning that the outside of the cake will set much faster than the center allowing the center of the cake to really rise. Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is at the right temperature.
Grease the sides of the cake tin. This allows the batter to rise up the sides without gripping the sides. For a bundt cake, I like to grease the tin with soft butter and then dust the tin with flour.
Use baking strips! Use damp cake pan baking strips to keep the sides of the cake tin cooler during the baking. This allows the side to rise at a similar rate to the center of the cake. Alternatively (the method I use) is to fold a piece of foil 4-to 5 times to create a strip (shiny side out) and wrap it around the outside of the tin. This is especially important for darker cake tins. For bundt cakes, I like to wrap the entire bottom of the cake tin with foil.

Sliced cinnamon bundt cake on a marble top.

Storage and Freezing

This cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This cake can be frozen whole or as individual slices in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

When freezing an entire cake for an extended period of time, wrap the cake in plastic wrap or cling film before wrapping it in foil or placing it into an airtight container.

Cinnamon Bundt Cake FAQ

How long should a bundt cake cool before you apply a glaze to it?

I like my cakes to cool entirely before I glaze them. This allows the glaze to sit on the top of the cake and not seep into the warm cake.

How do I drizzle glaze onto a bundt cake?

How the bowl with the icing of the center of one side of the cake, and pour over the cake moving around the entire circle of the bundt. Alternatively use a spoon to spoon the glaze of the cake.

How long does it take to bake a Bundt cake in a convection oven?

This is dependent on the temperature and size of the bundt cake, as well as the density of the cake batter. But a general rule of thumb is to reduce the temperature of the convention oven by 20°C/25°F, or the gas mark by 1, and follow the duration of the recipe.

What is the trick to getting a cake out of a bundt pan?

The trick is to first grease the pan and then dust it with flour (or cocoa powder if making a chocolate bundt). Then once the cake has cooled for 10-15 minutes turn the cake out onto a wired cooling rack, and give the cake a could of shakes. If the cake feels like it is sticking a little bit, I like to use a plastic knife and ease the outer edges of the cake away from the tin. This usually loosens the cake up enough to just drop out the tin.

Can I make this cinnamon bundt cake ahead of time?

Yes, I would recommend making this cake the day before an event. Allowing it to rest for 24 hours before serving.

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Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Why You Will Love This Cinnamon Bundt Cake