The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

anyone ever made a cinnamon roll cake?

vince hav's picture
vince hav

anyone ever made a cinnamon roll cake?

i have a friend whose birthday is comeing up and she loves cinnamon rolls. i was looking at the cinnamon "paste" that is spread on the dough from on the TFL links for cinnamon rolls an wondered if a layer cake could be cooked and spread that cinnamon paste over the cake after cooking it an maybe drizzel the frosting stuff made from the confectionate sugar over the top of the top layer?

im just trying to come up with an idea to combine the flavor an goodness of cinnamon rolls with the idea of a birthday cake...

any ideas??? anyone ever tried something like this??

pmccool's picture
pmccool

although that usually involves baking the cinnamon/butter/sugar/flour mixture with the cake.  Not sure which filling you are looking at, but most that I am familiar with wouldn't be amenable to spreading on an already-baked cake.

A quick Google search using +cinnamon +cake brought up this link for a cinnamon bun cake.  Maybe that will fill the bill?

Paul

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

Paul, this one's been haunting me ever since you posted the link and I printed out the recipe. So, I whipped one up over the weekend. It definitely has all the flavor elements of the cinnamon bun---brown sugar, cinnamon, and the all-important white frosting to top it off.

Vince, this would make a fine birthday cake---at least, more traditional in appearance than a bundt cake or sweet bread, if that's what you're looking for. I prefer a plain vanilla buttercream frosting like the one on the back of the C&H box. Why put mellow sour cream in the cake, just to overpower it with tangy cream cheese in the frosting? But then, I prefer a plain vanilla frosting to cream cheese on my cinnamon rolls too. Swirling in the cinnamon attractively is a bit of a challenge. I could have used a bit more practice, but it all tastes good :-)

Thanks again, Paul
-dw

vince hav's picture
vince hav

thanks debra that looks great..so did you swirl the cinnamon into the cake batter just before you put it in the oven?

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

Yes, I did it just as directed. I made the cake batter and pulled out a cupful, spread the rest in the pans, then added the brown sugar and cinnamon to the reserved amount, spooned it on and marbled with a knife. Well, marbling was what I intended---didn't quite work out that way.

I think what I'd try next time, since the cinnamon batter was just too thick, is not to mix the cinnamon sugar into the cup of batter, but add enough hot water to it to make a thick cinnamon syrup, drizzle that over 2/3 of the batter in the pans, spoon on the rest of the batter and then marblize. I guess you'll have to make that call by how thick or thin your batter is.

Have fun!
-dw

paulm's picture
paulm

I recently made the Cinnamon Roll recipe from of all things, the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  I made two adjustments.  I added raisins (so technically they were cinnamon raisin rolls.  And the second is I used a 13" x 9" cake pan rather than the two 9" round cake pans in the recipe.  This resulted in the rolls baking together and in essence creating a 13x9 inch cinnamon roll sheet cake. 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I take cool yet soft unsalted butter and beat it in a mixer until light and fluffy, sometimes adding splashes of cold milk or globs of cold pudding.  Be careful not to over beat and heat up the butter (resulting in collapse) adding sifted cinnamon (1-2 teaspoons per pound) and a little sifted powdered sugar to taste.  The cake should be completely cool or better chilled first before frosting.  Avoid heat.  Keep cake cool.

If you want to drool something over a cake, try using no or low salt creamcheese, pudding and confectioners sugar, beating with small amounts of milk to soften.  Add cinnamon and vanilla to taste.

Pudding can be self made or purchased in cups, butterscotch, carmel or vanilla recommended.  Pudding tends to liquify when beaten so hold out on adding milk until pudding is well blended with either whipped cheese or butter.

Sprinkle with pecans or walnuts or favorite chopped or slivered nuts.

vince hav's picture
vince hav

thanks im looking forward to trying these and looking forward even more to seeing her try it.. :-)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Oh dear!  I always thought that it brought more luck when someone else baked the birthday cake.  I got the impression you were putting it together. 

Mini

bakinbuff's picture
bakinbuff

It sounds like it will be so yummy!  I looove cinnamon, cinnamon rolls, cinnamon raisin bread, oh yum.  Could you make me a birthday cake??  ;-)

BettyR's picture
BettyR

I have a recipe for a Cinnamon Bun Babka... would you be interested in that?

 

 

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

That really looks delicious. Please post the recipe.

Thanks.

BettyR's picture
BettyR

 

 

I wrote this recipe to fit my bread machine but you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook to make this dough. It can be done by hand but you need to be very careful not to add a lot of excess flour to this soft dough.

 

I use all-purpose flour and gluten because I can't get bread flour in this little one horse town.

 

Cinnamon Bun Babka

 

***Dough***

2 heaping tablespoons white sugar

1/3-cup honey

1/2 stick butter  (chopped)

1-teaspoon salt

1-1/4 cups scalded milk

2/3-cup cool water

2 large eggs beaten

5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (If you can find bread flour you can use that and skip the gluten)

3 heaping tablespoons vital wheat gluten

2-1/2 teaspoons or 1 packet of yeast 

 

***Put the first 5 ingredients into the bread machine in the order listed. Stir with a rubber spatula until the butter is melted.

***Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed and select the dough cycle. When the machine first starts you will need to use the rubber spatula to help mix the flour and the liquid or it won't mix well. Just stir with the rubber spatula until all the flour is moistened.

***While you wait for the dough cycle to finish, make your filling and preheat the oven to 325°. Spray a sheet pan with spray-oil, cover with wax paper or parchment paper and spray again.

 

***Filling***

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2-cup flour

1-tablespoon cinnamon

1/2-cup butter (I use real butter here-I've never tried margarine)

***Mix dry ingredients together, cut in butter. Place in refrigerator until needed.

 

***Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a floured surface. Coat with flour so it doesn't stick to your hands or the counter. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, 12x24 inches. Spread the filling evenly over the dough and roll up jelly roll style so that you end up with a 24-inch long roll. Pinch the edges to seal.

***Starting at one end and working your way down the dough a little at a time, twist the dough as though you were wringing out a dishtowel; the roll will get longer as you twist it. Do this gently as not to tear the dough but well enough that it is well twisted and almost doubled in length.

***Then coil the dough around like a pinwheel creating a super large cinnamon roll, tucking the loose end of the dough under so it doesn't unravel. Brush dough very well with melted butter to prevent a skin from forming and let dough rest for 10 minutes, then bake at 325° for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the Babka is golden brown.

***Make a glaze out of powdered sugar, water and a little vanilla. Drizzle this over the Babka and let it cool.

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Thank you.

BettyR's picture
BettyR

It's an easy recipe to make but we like to keep it for special occasions. Just makes the occasion seem a little more special if you get a babka to go with it.

cgmeyer2's picture
cgmeyer2

have you thought of making a bundt cake & using the paste in-between layers of cake batter. you would end up with a cake w/ internal swirls. the frosting could be thinned to make a glaze.

i've done this b4 & it turned out great.

claudia

vince hav's picture
vince hav

thank you bettyR that does look great..thank you so much that actually looks like a big cinnamon roll..cant wait to try an make all of these..one at a time of course..

@ bakenbuff yea you are right i did mean to say that im looking forward to her tasteing it...an id love to bake you a birthday cake haha ;-)

her birthday is in april so i have the whole  month of march to bake and perfect and add to  and fail and try try try again all these and figure out which one to take to her..she will be so surprised..

if i can figure out how to post photos as well id be happy to share them if someone can tell me how to do it. do i copy an paste them here?

thanks again for all your help..

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Posting photos FAQ:

 http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2960/posting-photos-faq

 These steps from poster Debra Wink have also been said to be very helpful:"

  1. Click on the tree symbol (next to HTML at the top of the comment box) and the Insert/edit image box will appear.
  2. Click on the little symbol to the right of the Image URL field and the File Browser box will pop up.
  3. Click on Upload at the top of this box, and a File field will appear.
  4. Click on Browse to the right of the file field and the Chose File to Upload window will open.
  5. Find and highlight the image file you wish to upload and click Open. This will take you back to the File Browser box.
  6. Click the Upload button (right next to the Browse button).
  7. Now the file should be listed in the file browser box. Click on it to highlight it, and then click Send to Editor at the top of this box. This will take you back to the Insert/edit image box.
  8. Click Insert, and your image will appear in your edit window where your cursor was last positioned (but you'll have to use the preview feature to see how it will look in your posted message).

There is also a Help button in the top left corner of the File Browser box with tips and alternate ways to do things that you might find helpful."

vince hav's picture
vince hav

thanks for the info on the photo up loading...its funny i have never notice the "reply" button under each post...that makes it a lot easier to comment on particular post one at a time.. thanks again

vince hav's picture
vince hav

can you explain the part about put the cinnamon paste "between the layers"? are you referring to pour some cake mix into the bun pan then put in some paste then some more cake mix? or are you talking about bakeing the cake an put the paste between the layers? i have thought of that but wondered if id have to cook the brown sugar/cinnamon etc paste and pour on it otherwise it would be grainy from the sugar wouldnt it? idk just asking?

im willing to try any way and to experiment with mixing a couple of reicipes together to created something elese or take the best fo two and make one? thanks for you help..

vince

vince hav's picture
vince hav

vince hav's picture
vince hav

ive gotten so many recipes from so many on here that im not sure who gave me the link to about.com which is where i got this recipe ....thanks

it was a really moist cake tho it doesnt have the cinnamon roll grab that im looking for. several people complimented me on the flavor an it was a really good recipe but im not thru. i have a whole month to come up with the one i plan to surprise her with...

oh an thanks for the help on how to post photos. i ended up having to take photo over into paint feature and resize it smal enough...but it workd out thanks

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

You may already have it, but if not, there is a free download(at MS.com) called Power Toys that has an image resizer. Then, you can just right click on any saved image to get a pop-up option to resize to desired resolution.

vince hav's picture
vince hav

when i dumped it on the plate the cake looked like it was 2 layers stacked...? i mixed the batter pourd it in to the bun pan an it was level but it came out looking like layers..

anyone know why? doesnt matter but was just curious.

KansasGirlStuckInMaryland's picture
KansasGirlStuck...

I made a chocolate babka a couple of years ago in a class.  I didn't like it much as the teacher insisted on the use of VERY dark chocolate (blah).

This sounded very intriguing and delicious.

A bit blurry, but this is it just before going into the oven.

Fresh from the oven.

Freshly glazed.

 

I made it completely by hand.  This was pretty easy to make.  Helps if you have some experience working with wetter doughs.  I used a slap and fold method.  Took about 7-8 minutes.  Let it rise for about 90 minutes.  Rolled out to size very easily.

Taste is really good though I think I might try a cream cheese icing next time for a more cinnamon roll taste.

BettyR's picture
BettyR

Your babka looks very good...and I agree with you about the chocolate babka, I never liked them either.