Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake

The other day, I was on the couch watching the Food Network, which is a typical night for me. That night, someone was making a pound cake and I instantly had a craving. Pound cake is the perfect cake because it does not have any frosting. It’s a weird thing that my siblings and I prefer just the cake with a hint of frosting. Brian is one of those people who can eat frosting out the can, so you can imagine he thinks my siblings and I are weird. I usually don’t venture into the baking world, but I was up for the challenge. Well, I made Brian up for the challenge because he made this cinnamon swirl pound cake for me :).

I remember watching something on the science behind a pound cake. It originated from combination of a pound of flour, pound of butter, pound of eggs and a pound of sugar. These ingredients make for a dense and tasty cake. I knew the base of the cake, but I also wanted to add my own twist. Another fun fact about me is that I love cinnamon so I thought it would perfect to add a cinnamon sugar swirl. Thinking back about that night, I should not have watched the Food Network before I ate dinner.

So Brian and I headed to the store and stocked up on cake flour, butter, sugar and eggs. We were determined to make this early in order to get our photos taken that day.

You should eat dinner before making this cinnamon swirl pound cake.

Like I said, I made Brian make this for me. I’m no baker–I make the hot, savory food. He’s all sugar. What’s important for any pound cake is to have your eggs and butter sit out at room temperature. With any meal or dessert you make, it’s also great to have your ingredients measured and at the ready. Once you get started on this, it will come together quickly. Also, don’t wait the full 50 minutes to check on the cake. Check it about 40 minutes in and again at 45 minutes. We left the first one in too long and it was a little dry–sorry Bri. However, still delicious. Your knife should be mostly clean, but it’s ok if there are pieces of cake on it, that’s ok! The cinnamon swirl will not set so that’s likely the cause. I’d rather a slightly underdone pound cake than a dry one.

Print Recipe

Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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By Lilies and Loafers – Serves: 8-10

Prep Time: 20 minutes – Cooking Time: 50 minutes – Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 3 large egg yolks at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 3/4 cups of cake flour

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2

Mix the dark brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside.

3

Grease a loaf pan with spray or butter and line with parchment paper.

4

Beat the butter on medium for about 2 minutes.

5

Gradually add the sugar and beat for another 5-7 minutes. Mixture should be light and fluffy.

6

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and water.

7

Turning your mixer to a medium speed, add the egg mixture a few tablespoons at a time until fully combined.

8

Add in the salt.

9

Gently fold in the flour until just combined. Don’t over mix.

10

Add half your batter to greased loaf pan.

11

Evenly sprinkle your cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter and then add the remaining batter on top.

12

Place in the oven for 50 minutes or until a tooth pick of knife comes out mostly clean but a little sticky.

Notes

Check on the loaf in the last 10 minutes of baking so you don't end up with an dry cake.