Cinnamon Roll Cake - Completely Acceptable For Breakfast

Birthdays = cake. It was my best friend's birthday yesterday, and I made him a cinnamon roll cake. Pretty delicious, plus you can totally eat it for breakfast and just say you had a cinnamon roll if anyone asks. Or give them a piece of cake and then they won't judge you.

I made mine 3 layers, which is a lot of cake. If you only have 2 pans, or you don't feel like making that much cake, make your favorite 2 layer yellow cake. You'll just have a little extra swirl mixture and a little extra icing, which I don't think is an issue. Use the extra swirl in oatmeal, and eat the extra icing with a spoon. I'm such a problem solver!

I recommend making the swirl first, and setting it aside to firm up a bit while you make the batter. When the cake is cool, make the icing and put it in another container, then you don't have to wash the bowl before you make the filling. Here we go!

Cinnamon Roll Cake
adapted from these
makes one very tall 9" cake

Cake
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs, room temperature
3 1/3 c all-purpose flour
3 1/3 tsp baking powder
2/3 tsp salt
2 1/3 c sugar
2 t vanilla extract
1 2/3 c milk, room temperature

- Beat butter and sugar with salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
- Add approximately one third of the flour, plus the baking powder, and mix on low speed until combined. With the mixer still on low, add half the milk. Repeat with half of the remaining flour, then the rest of the milk, and the last of the flour.
- Divide batter evenly between 3 9" cake pans, greased. I recommend using parchment circles on the bottom of the pans too, it really helps get them out - the sugar from the swirl makes the cake pretty sticky.
- Pipe on the swirl mixture in a continuous spiral, going out to almost the edge of the pan. Save any remaining mixture for the filling.
- Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until cake springs back when touched and center tests clean with a toothpick. The swirl makes it a little hard to tell if it's done - if you're not sure, leave it in the oven for another couple minutes with the oven turned OFF. The leftover heat in the oven will finish it.
- Cool completely!! Spread half the filling on one layer, top with the second layer, spread on the rest of the filling, and the remaining layer. Give the cake a very very thin coat of icing - don't worry about making it look nice, this is called the "crumb coat." It prevents all the cake crumbs from sticking to your spatula and getting dragged through the final icing. Chill for 30 minutes, then go ahead and frost it again, nice and smooth and thick this time! Chill until about half an hour before you're ready to serve it. Cold cake (of any kind!) doesn't have a very nice texture!

Swirl
1 stick butter, very soft
1 c brown sugar
1-2 T cinnamon, i used about 1 1/2
1 T flour
pinch of salt

- Put everything in a freezer safe plastic baggie, seal it, and mash it all together. If you have trouble getting it smooth, place the baggie in a bowl of very hot water for 30 seconds, then try again. Snip the corner, and you're ready to go! Note - A regular baggie will burst when you squeeze it. The freezer bags are stronger.

Filling

The leftover swirl mixture
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 oz butter, softened
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

- Beat everything together until smooth.

Icing
10 oz cream cheese, softened
6 oz butter, softened
roughly 20 oz powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a few drops of orange extract (optional)

- Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add salt and extracts, beat again. Add the powdered sugar gradually, with the mixer on low. Once combined, beat on medium-high for a minute or so, until the texture is nice and spreadable. Can be made ahead of time, store tightly covered in refrigerator. Bring back to close to room temperature before using.