Cinnamon Bundt Cake (aka King Cake Bundt Cake)

This Cinnamon Bundt Cake is a delicious, buttery, sour cream bundt cake with a cinnamon swirl in the middle and a creamy vanilla glaze over the top! Add colorful sugar to transform it into a King Cake Bundt Cake – perfect for a Mardi Gras celebration. It’s perfect for breakfast, snacking, or dessert with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk.

King Cake Bundt Recipe

Have you ever had a Sock It To Me cake? I remember the first time I had one – it was after the birth of my second baby and a lady from church brought us a meal, including a Sock-It-To-Me cake from the local grocery store.

I was hooked. And then I realized, it was basically a cinnamon swirl cake with a fancy name. And later on, I realized it also has the same flavors as a King Cake.

No matter what you call it, this cake is addictive.

Mardi Gras Bundt Cake

So, are you looking for a festive dessert to enjoy this Mardi Gras season but too intimidated to make a King Cake? Your search ends here with our cinnamon bundt coffee cake, a unique twist on the classic king cake recipe.

Our sour cream coffee cake bundt is a perfect combination of the classic bundt cake with king cake flavors, decked out for Mardi Gras colors.

This cinnamon roll bundt cake is an easy way to get King Cake flavor in the form of a bundt cake. It’s not just the cinnamon sugar filling but also the tender yellow cake and the festive sugar on top. Each bite melts in your mouth, delivering moist cake and brown sugar goodness.

Why You’ll Love This Cinnamon Bundt Cake?

Best of Both Worlds. You get a delicious moist sour cream pound cake with a swirl of cinnamon and brown sugar goodness. I absolutely love homemade cinnamon rolls, so getting that same flavor in a cake is a big win-win!

Enjoy Anytime (Day or Night). This bundt king cake recipe works for breakfast, dessert or a snack. Pair it with a cup of coffee in the morning, or a glass of cold milk in the evening – you cannot go anytime of day with this amazing Cinnamon Roll Cake.

King Cake Without the Work. You get to have King Cake (sort of) – without all the work of a traditional King Cake. You can even bake a plastic baby into the batter if you want the true King Cake experience.

What is a King Cake?

The king cake holds a special place in the Mardi Gras traditions. Stemming from European roots, it’s a dessert that’s as much a part of the celebrations as the big parades and colorful beads.

Usually shaped like an oval to symbolize unity, this pastry is far from ordinary. It’s often filled with a variety of tempting flavors – think indulgent cream cheese or a rich praline. However, it’s not just about the taste. 

The king cake also has an instantly recognizable look, drizzled with icing or sprinkled with sugar in the classic Mardi Gras colors: purple symbolizing justice, green representing faith, and gold denoting power.

The festive look of this cake is as much a part of its appeal as the mouthwatering flavors inside. While each baker or region may have its variation of the king cake, the basic flavors remain the same – a celebration of the Mardi Gras spirit in edible form.

With our cinnamon bundt cake recipe, we’re putting a spin on the traditional cake, maintaining some of its traditional flavor and charm while adding a touch of our own creativity.

Tools Needed

1. Mixing bowls
2. Electric Mixer or Hand Mixer
3. Rubber spatula
4. Bundt pan (10-inch)
5. Whisk
6. Measuring Cup

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Mixing Bowls

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Hand Mixer

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Measuring Cups and Spoons

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Gathering Your Ingredients

This cinnamon cake recipe with a simple glaze comes together with staple ingredients that almost every home baker already has on hand. The sanding sugar that turns this from an ordinary sour cream bundt coffee cake to a Mardi Gras Bundt Cake is the only thing you may not have in your pantry.

Cake batter:

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Sugar
• Unsalted butter, room temperature
• Large eggs, room temperature
• Vanilla extract
• Sour cream

Cinnamon swirl :

• Brown sugar
• Cinnamon

Glaze:

• Powdered sugar
• Milk
• Vanilla extract
• Gold, green, purple sanding sugar

How to Make a Cinnamon Bundt Cake

As far as bundt cake recipes go, this one is pretty simple with no fancy techniques. This recipe yields a fluffy cake with a tender crumb and so much delicious flavor. 

Making the Cake Batter

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Fahrenheit. Grease a Bundt cake pan with a baking pan spray or butter.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients including the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set this mixture aside.
3. In a separate bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream the soft butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Mix in one egg at a time until welcome combined, and stir in vanilla extract. You can do this with a hand mixer.
4. Slowly add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on medium speed. Stir in the sour cream and then the remaining flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Making the Cinnamon Swirl

1. In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Assembling the Cake

1. Pour half of the batter into your prepared bundt pan.
2. Sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mixture over the cake batter in the bundt pan.
3. Spoon the rest of the batter over the cinnamon layer carefully to make sure all the cinnamon gets covered.
4. Bake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes until a toothpick can be inserted into the cake and comes out clean.
5. Let the cake cool for a little bit (5 to 10 minutes), and then flip onto a serving plate or wire rack.

Icing the Cinnamon Bundt Cake

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until it is smooth.
2. Once the cake has completely cooled, pour the glaze over the top of the cake.
3. Sprinkle the sanding sugar over the glaze.

Pro Tips

• Use Room Temperature Ingredients. You will almost always get the best results when baking by using room-temperature ingredients.
• Spoon the Batter. It’s difficult and messy to pour a thick cake batter, so use a spoon or cookie scoop to move the batter from the bowl to the bundt pan for a cleaner, more even distribution.
• Mix Just Right. When mixing the wet and dry ingredients, mix just until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. But do not overmix!
• Cool Before Glazing! If you add the glaze to a hot cake, it will melt and run off the cake. So let the cake completely cool before adding the icing.

Variations

Cream Cheese Frosting. When it comes to King Cake, the perfect cake is one filled with cream cheese filling. To give your cinnamon swirl bundt cake that additional creamy flavor, you could use this cream cheese glaze in place of the simple vanilla glaze.

Make it Nutty. If you love some extra texture in your cake, add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the brown sugar cinnamon mixture and then sprinkle more pecans on top!

Decorating Your Cake for Mardi Gras

For this recipe, I used mixed sanding sugar to add the Mardi Gras Colors. Another option would be to alternate the colored sugar like I did on this easy Easy King Cake with Cinnamon Rolls.

Don’t have sanding sugar? You could add color to small portions of the icing and drizzle the cake with the green, purple and gold/yellow icing.

The goal is to have a pretty and festive cake so don’t worry about achieving perfect lines or an exact pattern. And just like that, with a little pop of color, your sour cream coffee cake bundt has transformed into a Mardi Gras King Cake!

Serving Suggestions

Serve this cinnamon bundt cake for breakfast, lunch or dinner – as the main coarse, a snack, or dessert. It would also be an amazing addition to a brunch spread.

It’s perfect with a cup of coffee, a tall glass or milk, or even a hot cup of your favorite tea.

For a Mardi Gras-themed party, why not serve slices of this cake as a delightful treat instead of a traditional King Cake? Its festive colors and mouthwatering taste will certainly add to the joy and vibrancy of the celebration. No matter how you choose to serve this Mardi Gras bundt cake, it’s sure to be a hit.

How do you prevent the cake from sticking to the pan?

Bundt pans can be a little tricky because some of them have extra grooves and crevices that might cause the cake to stick. Here are my best tips to prevent a bundt cake from sticking to the pan.

1. Spray the pan with a nonstick spray made for baking like Baker’s Joy.
2. Mix equal parts of butter and flour and rub it into the pan so all the sides of the pan and bottom of the pan are coated. I have a homemade cake release recipe here.
3. Rub butter inside the pan and cover all surfaces and grooves. Add 1/2 cup flour to the pan and shake around until it’s coated, then dump out the excess flour.
4. Use a nonstick-coated bundt pan.
5. Gently loosen the cake from the edges of the pan when the cake is hot.
6. Allow the cake to rest for only 5-10 minutes before flipping the pan over.
7. Tap the bundt pan to help the cake slide out of the pan.

Storage Directions

Room Temperature: You will want to store your cake covered in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also wrap it in plastic wrap for an extra layer to preserve moisture.

Freezing: This cake freezes beautifully. Make sure it’s at room temperature, then wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap. To protect it from getting damaged in the freezer, you might also place it in a box or back in the bundt pan.

FAQ

You’ve likely got a few questions bubbling up as you consider baking this festive cinnamon bundt cake. Let’s tackle some of the most common queries.

More Delicious Recipes

• Easy King Cake with Cinnamon Rolls
• Golden Rum Cake with Pecans & Buttery Rum Glaze
• Bundt Cake Banana Bread
• Easy Cream Cheese Glaze
• The Best One Bowl Coconut Bundt Cake
• Butterscotch Bundt Cake

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