Cinnamon Roll Layer Cake

Ingredients

Special Tools

• 3 8-inch round cake pans
• Non stick baking spray
• Stand mixer
• 8-inch round cake board
• Cake turntable

Cinnamon Crumble

• 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup (4.7 ounces) brown sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Cake

• 1 3/4 cups (10.6 ounces) whole milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon roll LorAnn flavoring
• 2/3 (150g/5.3 ounces) cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 4 1/3 cups (17.3 ounces) cake flour
• 2 1/2 cups (17.7 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces, at room temperature, about 65 degrees

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups (18 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon roll LorAnn flavoring (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 24 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened

Cinnamon Ganache

• 1 cup cinnamon chips
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Garnish

• Homemade or store bought mini cinnamon rolls
• Cinnamon chips

Direction

Cinnamon Crumble

1. Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, butter, honey and cinnamon with a silicone spatula. The mixture should look like clumps of sand. Sprinkle the crumbles over the prepared baking pan and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring halfway through. Let crumble cool and break up any large crumbles with your fingers before using.

Cinnamon Cake

1. Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray and set aside.
2. In a 4 cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg whites, extract, flavoring and sour cream.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment attached, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon on low speed until combined. Add butter one tablespoon at a time until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces, about 1 minute. Reserve ½ cup of the milk mixture and pour the remaining to the flour mixture and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the reserved ½ cup milk mixture to the batter and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Do not over mix. The batter may look curdled.  Give the batter a final stir by hand with a rubber spatula.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and divide the cinnamon roll crumble between the cake pans and swirl into the batter. Gently tap cake pans on the counter to settle the batter and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 to 35 minutes, switching and rotating pans halfway through baking.
5. Let cakes cool in their pans for 15 minutes on cooling racks. Then invert on cooling racks to cool completely.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, flavoring, salt and cinnamon. Reduce the speed to low and beat for 1 minute.
2. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the cream cheese in one piece at a time and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Do not over beat or the frosting will become soupy.

Assemble

1. Place a cake layer on a cake board and place on a cake turntable. Spread about 1/2 cup of cream cheese frosting on top in an even layer all the way to the edges of the cake. Place the second cake layer on top and gently press the cake layer to adhere to the frosting. Spread another 1/2 cup of frosting on top of the cake in an even layer, spreading all the way to the edges of the cake. Place the last cake layer on top (bottom side up) and apply a thin coat of frosting over the entire cake, creating a crumb coat. Wipe off any excess frosting from your crumb coat in a separate bowl. Be sure not to get any crumbs into your bowl of clean frosting. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, before applying the final layer of frosting.
2. Apply the final coat of frosting all over your chilled cake and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes while you prepare the Cinnamon Ganache.

Cinnamon Ganache

1. In a small glass bowl, add the cinnamon chips and heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir chips until completely melted. Next, place ganache in a squeeze bottle or use a spoon to drip on the sides of the cake. Pour remaining ganache on the center of the cake and using an offset cake spatula, spread out the ganache to cover the top of the cake. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before adding the mini cinnamon rolls.

Garnish

1. Add mini cinnamon rolls on top and sprinkle the top of the cake with a few cinnamon chips and serve.