Cinnamon Dulce De Leche Cake
My new Cinnamon Dulce De Leche Cake! If you thought my Coconut Key Lime Pie Cake was a mouthful, this one is a close second!
Truth be told, I recently just had my first taste of Dulce De Leche! I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it, but just never got around to trying it. Let me tell you, it was a game changer for me. The first thing that came to my mind when I tried it was, “this just needs a little cinnamon and it could be a cake.” Wham, bam, thank you ma’am, here it is!
If you don’t already follow me on instagram, it’s time! You’re going to want to see the story of this cake. Here is a link. While making this cake, or should I say after I finished the cake, I was transferring it to the cake stand to take pictures and one thing led to another. Before I even knew what had happened, my cake fell flat on the ground. Picture to come. I was low-key devastated. The sad truth is that after filming, writing down notes, and everything else that being a food blogger entails, I had just spent hours and hours on this cake. It was finally finished and I didn’t have anything else to do besides cut into it and enjoy it. But gravity took that from me. In the words of Michelle Olsen from Full house, “how rude!”
It only took about two seconds for me to scoop up the cake and evaluate the damage. If I’m being honest, old Molly would have simply walked away and cried, but this is new Molly, so I didn’t even hesitate to pick up. The truth is, I put my heart and soul into this cake, just like I do with every cake I make, and there was no way I was going to waste it. When I inspected it, I saw that one of the sides was completely ruined, but for some odd reason, I had more leftover buttercream than normal. I took that as a sign. I spent another 45 minutes refrosting it and I think it turned out even better than the first time! I was so glad that I didn’t give up on it. I trusted myself enough to fix my mistake and finish it off. If you’re interested, you can see my cake before, during, and after the fall on my Instagram highlights
That was a long story to introduce this cake, so let’s dive into it because, man, it’s a good one. First things first, cinnamon cake layers. I love cinnamon. I love it in cakes, churros, cookies, brownies, you name it, I love it. This is why I thought cinnamon needed to be incorporated into this cake!
For the cinnamon dulce de Leche buttercream.
This buttercream recipe is short, simple, and to the point. But to make sure that the caramel flavor in the dulce de Leche really stood out, I needed to add more salt. This really helps that flavor. As you know by now, to get those air bubbles out, beat with a spatula, by hand. To save some time, I always do it after I do the crumb coat. That way I’m not beating out air bubbles that no one would ever see.
Assembly
In the past, I have been freezing my cake layers before assembly, but lately I have been straying away from freezing my cake layers and instead, just refrigerating them to keep them cold. This helps them stay firm without freezing your buttercream as you apply it. Trust me, frozen buttercream is something that you don’t want to mess with. If you do decided to freeze them, pull them out as you’re making the buttercream to soften and warm them up just a bit.
Alright, enough of my chatting, let’s get baking!
Recipe
Cinnamon Dulce De Leche Cake
Ingredients
Cinnamon Cake Layers
- For the brown sugar swirl
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- For the cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 6 large whole eggs room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract I use Nielsen-Massey
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ Tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk room temperature
For the filling
- 1 can dulce de Leche bought or homemade
For the cinnamon dulce de Leche buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened
- ¾ can of dulce de Leche
- 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
For the cake
- In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare three 8-inch, or four 6-inch round cake pans. Spray them with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high until fluffy and smooth, about 4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, to the bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat on medium speed for another minute.
- Turn the mixer on low and add ½ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Then add half of the buttermilk and blend well, followed by the rest of the flour mixture, and the rest of the buttermilk, mixing on low. Don’t over mix, you only want to mix just until incorporated.
- Pour about 10 ounces of the batter in each 8-inch pan or 8 ounces in each 6-inch pans. Divide the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture between the cakes, sprinkling evenly over the batter, then top with the remaining batter (about 8 oz. more per 8-inch pan or 6 oz in each 6-inch pan).
- With a small offset spatula, or a spoon (I tried a spoon, but found more success with a small offset spatula) evenly distribute the cake batter so it’s even on top.
- Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until an inserted tooth pick comes out mostly clean.
- Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool in pans for 15 minutes before taking them out of the pan and placing them on cooling racks.
- When cakes are completely cooled, wrap each cake layer individually with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator or freezer until you’re ready to frost. If you are a beginner, I recommend putting them the freezer because it is so much easier to frost a slightly frozen cake.
For the cinnamon dulce de Leche buttercream
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the dulce de Leche and beat for 2 more minutes.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. When it’s all combined, add the heavy whipping cream, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for about 5 minutes.
- Using a wooden spoon, beat frosting to get the air bubbles out.
Assembly
- If the cakes need to be leveled, level them. Place a dollop of frosting in the middle of a cake board (the frosting acts as a glue to hold the cake to the board). Place a cake layer, topside up on the cake board.
- Spread ½ cup of the dulce de Leche buttercream evenly over the cake layer. Then add ⅓ cup of the canned dulce de Leche right on top of the buttercream.
- Place a new cake layer, topside down onto the buttercream/dulce de Leche and repeat the same steps by adding the buttercream and then add the canned dulce de Leche.
- Apply a thin coat of frosting around the entire cake to create a crumb coat. Chill the crumb coat in the freezer for 10 minutes to lock in crumbs.
- After the crumb coat is chilled, continue frosting the cake.