The Most Incredible Churro Cake
Churro Cake – Cinnamon sugar swirled cake layers with cinnamon sugar buttercream and cinnamon chip ganache.
Bachelorette Weekend
A few years ago I spent the weekend in Santa Ynez, California to celebrate my best friend of almost 20 years.
As part of an incredible bachelorette weekend (one that included a gorgeous rental property, a private chef for a night, wine tasting, and lot of laughter and lasting memories), I created a couple new cakes, including this Churro Cake.
Picking the Perfect Cake for a Fiesta
Knowing the chef would be cooking Mexican food for our first night, it seemed like the obvious choice to create Mexican-inspired cakes for dessert. Mandy isn’t the chocolate lover I am (I’m not even sure how we became best friends 😉), so I decided on a churro-inspired cake for the bride-to-be and a Mexican hot chocolate cake – because there should always be a chocolate cake around.
After doing some research, I landed on French Toast Cake from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen as a starting point to my recipe. I loved the idea of the cinnamon sugar swirling throughout the cake, but made some changes to the rest of the cake to take out the maple flavoring and create a slightly different texture.
The Most Delicious Churro Cake Recipe
I loved the flavor and texture of this cake. It’s similar to a pound cake with a dense but moist texture. I also love the cinnamon sugar swirls baked throughout the cake and the cinnamon chip ganache – both of which take this cake to the next level.
If you can’t find cinnamon chips (because in most areas they’re seasonal), you can also use caramel baking chips.
This cake was the hit of our girls’ weekend . I have no doubt you’ll love it as much as we did!
Enjoy!
Churro Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 3/4 cup (165 g) packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons (5.2 g) ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (339 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (500 g) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8.2 g) pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 g) salt
- 3 3/4 cups (450 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons (12 g) baking powder
- 2 teaspoon (5.2 g) ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (360 g) buttermilk room temperature
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter slightly cold
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar measured and then sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (6.3 g) vanilla
- 2 teaspoon (5.3 g) ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) heavy cream
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.
FOR THE GANACHE
- 1 cup (150 g) cinnamon chips
- 1/4 cup (30 g) heavy cream
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 8 inch or four 6 inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, place parchment rounds in each pan and spray again. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together 3/4 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and additional cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla.
- With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the flour and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with the flour mixture and scraping the bowl as needed. Pour about 10 oz. of the batter in each 8-inch pan or 8 ounces in each 6-inch pans. Divide the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture between the cakes (about 2 to 3 oz.), sprinkling evenly over the batter, then top with the remaining batter (about 10 oz. more per 8-inch pan or 8 oz in each 6-inch pan).
- Bake for 28 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Remember, not all ovens are the same, so check your cakes around 25 minutes and keep an eye on them.
- Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled completely, wrap each cake layer with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. Can be made ahead of time and frozen for up to two weeks. Let thaw for an hour before stacking and decorating.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. When it's all combined, add the heavy, cinnamon and vanilla. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for about 5 minutes.
- Using a wooden spoon, beat frosting to get air bubbles out.
FOR THE GANACHE
- Place the cinnamon chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until the mixture is smooth. Let cool to room temperature using on the cake.
ASSEMBLY
- After leveling the cake layers (if needed), place one cake layer, top-side up on a cake board or cake plate.
- Evenly spread about 1/2 to 2/3 cup frosting over the cake layer.
- Pipe a rim of frosting around the edge of the cake layer. Spread about 1/3 cup of the cinnamon chip ganache on the frosting before placing another cake layer on top.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3.
- 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 and use the remaining cinnamon chip ganache for a drip.
Churro Cake
Churro Cake.Cinnamon sugar swirled cake layers with cinnamon sugar buttercream and cinnamon chip ganache.
I really want to make these into cupcakes! Is this possible?
Yep! Fill them 2/3 of the way full in the liner and just keep an eye on them. Same cook time.
When turning them into cupcakes, you still fill liners halfway, then sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture, then other half of batter in cupcake liners?
This cake was amazing! I couldn’t find the cinnamon chips though. I even went to the Hershey’s Store on The Strip (guess where I live), and they said they had them last week, but now they’re out for the season. I think I’ll stock up come fall. I ended up doing a dulce de leche ganache. My favorite part was the cinnamon frosting. I could eat that on anything! It was so light and fluffy. Thank you for this recipe.
Yum that sounds delicious!
Is there supposed to be salt in the recipe??
Thanks for catching that. There is 1/2 tsp.
Is there any way the grams or cups measurements aren’t accurate? When I was measuring out the sugar by cup, it was more than double the amount of grams you have listed!
It should be 500 grams! I fixed it!
Hi, your cakes are beautiful and the ones I’ve made have been delicious. I plan on trying this churro cake idea for Cinco de Mayo. Do you have a recipe for the Mexican Chocolate Cake you made?
Not yet!
Hi Courtney,
I have a quick question for you. I want to make this a guilt free cake and still have the yumminess. What are great substitutions for some of the ingredients (also will they be equal amounts of some of those ingredients or do I need to change the amounts) and at the same time not break the bank? I saw on the Today show how you made the breakfast cake which I am looking forward to making. I am a chef and baker, but my goal is to go more plant-forward. I have an auto-immune disorder and some ingredients cause bloating, inflammation issues, and make me feel sluggish. I appreciate your feedback. Thank you.
Usually it takes a little experimenting. Healthier subs aren’t always one for one. Kamut flour for example has to be 1/4 cup less than what my recipe calls for.
I made this cake for a dinner party last night and it was a HUGE hit. So much so the entire dinner party was stunned into silence while eating it. There was 7 small children in attendance and two of them asked me to make the cake for their upcoming birthdays. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!
Thank you so much!
My friend requested 2 dozen churro cupcakes for her graduation party. I was hoping to use this recipe because it looks amazing! Do you know about how many cupcakes one recipe would make? Thank you!
About 24!
If you convert a cake recipe to a cupcake… what would the cool time be?
I’d give the cupcakes 15 minutes to cool in the pans and then another 30 to 45 minutes to cool to room temperature before frosting.
I made this cake for a family party today and it was such a hit. Everyone loved it.
I love that! Thank you!
COURTNEY! This is the most amazing cake I have ever made. So moist and delicious. It is ADDICTIVE. my fiancé and I couldn’t help ourselves. I would give it 10 stars if I could! I am also going to a friends birthday this weekend and I will be bringing this cake. I’m sure it will be a hit! Thanks so much!
That’s so nice! Thank you so much!
I love the way this looks! I would like to make this for a party. Can I ask what the blocks on top of the cake are?
Churro Smashmallows
I amazing cake I loved the flavor, only thing is my cake came out a bit dry. Is there something I can do add or maybe substitute to the recipe to make it moist?
Make sure you aren’t overbaking it!
Try spraying it with some simple syrup. Fixes an otherwise dry cake and doesn’t compromise the taste.
Cake was delicious. I made a four layer 6 inch cake. I made one and a half times of the icing recipe. So I could pipe some on top.
Did you bake it the same time the recipe asked for? Same measurements? And you used 4 of the 6 inch pans?
My daughter just turned 30 and I wanted to make her a different kind of cake for her birthday and OH BOY this is the one I’m going to try for sure! My question is, if I don’t have 8 or 6 inch layer pans what else can I use? I have a very deep 10 inch round cake pan (where I can cut the cake in half or I have 9 inch layer pans and also bundt cake pans. Can you let me know which option will work out best? I use the 10 inch pan usually for large birthday cakes and I have the wire cake cutter to cut it in half. I will be making the cake tomorrow (Friday 4/8) if you can let me know as soon as possible I would appreciate it! Thanks!
if you do 10 inch, double the recipe for 3 10-inch pans!
Hello!!! I love your cakes!!! I am so thrilled to try this cake! I do have a question. A friend of mine wants this cake for her wedding. This would be my 1st wedding cake 😬. I was just wondering if you had any ideas? She wants an 8 inch cake and then about 70 cupcakes. You have any ideas on how to make this cake look decorative for a wedding? And or for cupcakes? This is my first time. Their wedding colors are sage, grey, space blue and accents of gold but I don’t need to use all those colors. I’m so sorry- i know I’m asking too much. But I wanted to at least ask what ideas or suggestions you might have?
I came across this recipe when looking for a Cake for my niece’s “Taco ‘bout Love” couple’s shower. This was the first cake I’ve ever made from scratch and it was a hit! There wasn’t anything but crumbs left and those were being picked over too!
Yay!!
I love this cake recipe. Can I use the same exact recipe to turn this into cupcakes? How would that work out for the brown sugar swirl in the middle if I wanted to turn it into cupcakes?