Your favorite cereal in cake form! Cinnamon cake, cream cheese frosting, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumble.
I always make a special cake for Ryan’s birthday. This has been happening for years, ever since I got into cake decorating in late 2009. Last year, I took on a huge challenge and made him a Momofuku Birthday Cake. If you know Momofuku recipes at all, you know that they are intense and have a LOT of steps. Needless to say, I ran into many issues making that cake, but the taste was well worth the effort. This year, I decided to turn one of Ryan’s favourite cereals into this Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake (read: it was actually his idea).
In true Olivia fashion, I couldn’t decide how I wanted to decorate this cake. It’s always a last minute decision these days, and I don’t know if it’s just because I have no ideas, or because I want it to be perfect and (relatively) easy to do. I wanted to try something a bit different, so I thought I’d crush up some more cereal and press it into the sides, kinda like my Funfetti Cake, but with cereal instead of sprinkles.
Surely this would be easy given that I’d done it before — prop the cake on an upside down bowl and press stuff into the sides. It was all going swimmingly, except that I have this annoying desire to make things perfect, so I kept fussing with it and pressing more and more into the sides… until the cake started to fall OFF of the bowl and I had to literally grab it with my hands. Where is the crying emoji?? I need one. That or the cursing one.
So my pristine smooth-sided cake, perfectly covered in crushed up Cinnamon Toast Crunch now had the added bonus of handprints on the sides. Did I mention the frosting was soft? Yeah… so soft that you could literally see all of my fingers pressed into the cake. SIGH. Thankfully I was able to patch the holes (lol) with more crushed up cereal, but STILL. It’s a never-ending drama over here with my baking. Needless to say, the pics are taken from the most flattering angle, as usual.
The only other issue is that I had quite a bit of tunnelling in the cake because I overmixed the batter. So don’t do that. It doesn’t affect the taste, but it certainly doesn’t look as pretty with these hollow channels running through it.
I added a bit of cinnamon to the cake itself, and paired it with a cream cheese frosting to cut down some of the sweetness from the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. One of my favorite elements of the Momofuku cakes is the crumble. It adds an amazing flavour and texture to the cakes, so I’ve started incorporating it into a few of mine. I figured this Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake needed a bit of, well, “crunch,” so I made a crumble using crushed up cereal and placed it between the layers.
The cake tasted amazing! Ryan said it tasted just like having the cereal with milk. If you have a Cinnamon Toast Crunch fan in your life, they will love this cake!
Notes & tips for this Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake:
- The crumble uses grape seed oil because I had some on hand. You can use any vegetable oil and it will work just fine.
- The frosting is soft, so be careful pressing the crushed up Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal into the sides. I recommend chilling the frosted cake before doing so.
- Be careful not to over-mix the batter as this can cause tunnelling in the cake.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Crumble:
- 1 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal crushed
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp grape seed oil or any vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 6 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Assembly:
- 1 1/2 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal crushed
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds, line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and set aside.
- Beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition. Mix until just combined
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 30mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Crumble:
- Preheat oven to 300F and line a sheet pan with parchment or a silicone mat.
- Whisk all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until small clumps form.
- Spread evenly and bake for 15mins. Cool completely before using on cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat butter and cream cheese on med-high until pale and smooth (approx. 2mins).
- Reduce speed to low and add sugar 1 cup at a time. Add vanilla and pinch of salt. Increase speed to high and beat for 2-3 minutes until pale and smooth.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of the cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Top with 1 cup of frosting and spread evenly. Sprinkle with crumble as desired. Repeat with remaining layers. Frost outside of cake and press crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal into the sides.
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Ivy says
The cake was delicious, only issue was the crumb was inedible, I’m so glad I tried it before sprinkling it on. The baking powder taste was overwhelming had to remake with about 1/4 tsp salt and baking powder.
Olivia says
Hi Ivy! That is strange! Are you sure you didn’t use baking soda by accident? That would definitely affect the flavour. The salt helps cut some of the sweetness from the crumble but also the frosting when paired with it. I’m glad you liked the cake though! 🙂
Emily Haddad says
Hello! I bought all the ingredients and realized I picked up sweet cream unsalted butter instead of regular unsalted butter. Will this be a problem?
Olivia says
Hi Emily! I’ve never used sweet cream butter before but a quick google search tells me it should be fine!
Jessica says
Can you help me understand prepping the round pans? You say to grease and flour. Are we putting the parchment paper over that or under that?
Olivia says
Hi Jessica! I spray my pans with Pam for Baking and then line them with parchment. You could grease the parchment again, but it’s not necessary.
Aileen Swiatnicki says
Could you help me modify this recipe to two, nine inch round pans instead of three, 6 inch round pans?
Sooo looking forward to making this!
Olivia says
Hi Aileen! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html I would probably double the recipe and only fill the pans 2/3rds full. Let me know how it turns out!
Alaina says
This is my new favorite cake.
I stuck almost entirely with your recipe (I used whole milk instead of buttermilk because I was too lazy to go to the store) and copied your exact decoration because it was so cute! I love cream cheese frosting with my whole heart and it matches so well with the cinnamon cake and the cereal. The crumble was insanely delicious (I realized I also strayed here slightly – I used butter after reading the comments and confirming it would be ok). I will strive to use a version of the crumble as frequently as possible in future bakes.
As with your other recipes, this was easy to follow and led to great success.
Olivia says
Thanks so much for the feedback Alaina! I’m happy to hear that you liked it 🙂
Christy says
What would your suggestion be if I wanted to make a three tier 8 inch cake? Would I double the recipe? How long would I bake it for?
Olivia says
Hi Christy! Yes, double the recipe for a three layer 8″ cake. Baking time would be roughly the same +/- a few minutes.
Karina says
Hi! I’m also converting this to a 3 8in cake. By doubling, do you mean changing the serving size from 12 to 24? Thank you soooo much!
Olivia says
Hi Karina! Yes, exactly! That’s the easiest way to do it 🙂
lled says
Super excited for this cake! I have it in the oven right now. Instead of the frosting I made dulce de leche and added a tad bit more cinnamon in the batter.
Your recipes are always epic so I’m looking forward to this one:)
Olivia says
Hi Iled! Thank you! I hope you like this one 🙂
Maryam says
Where have u been all my life. I have been going through ur blog and ur recipes are amazing, so much delicious creativity. I am about to start a cake business and u have no idea how much ur blog has elevated me. Thanks a bunch, with love from Nigeria.
Olivia says
Hi Maryam! Thank you so much for your sweet comment. Good luck with your business!
Fotini says
Looks delish! Definitely gonna try this. Thank you.
Olivia says
Hi Fotini! I hope you like it 🙂
Sarah | The Wandering Road says
So, I asked my husband what kind of birthday cake he wanted this year… and his request for a Cinnamon Toast Crunch cake led me to this recipe! I baked this yesterday (added some of the crumble and your vanilla buttercream as accents on top) and it was AMAZING. I am so excited to explore your blog. Thanks for sharing this post.
Olivia says
Yay! So glad to hear you guys liked this one, Sarah! It was my husband’s fave too 🙂
Gotham Gal says
Hi Liv! Last year I took the boyfriend to Momofuku as part of his birthday celebrations, and this year I wanted to make something extra special for my new husband’s birthday. 🙂 So my eyes popped when I saw your recipe for the Momofuku cake and this gorgeous cake with his favorite childhood cereal. It’s gotten really hard to find legit buttermilk in stores these days, I discovered that when I was looking for it to make fried chicken. Is the store-bought low-fat buttermilk (they’re all processed and low-to-no fat) acceptable to use for this cake?
And, this is seriously gorgeous…but do you have advice for a scaled down 2-layer recipe since we don’t need the big one? Thanks so much!
Olivia says
I’m so excited that you’re going to try this one! You can totally use low-fat buttermilk or even regular milk in this recipe. In terms of scaling the recipe down.. the layers are not super tall, so it’s not a HUGE cake and would work in two 6″ pans likely. However, if you just want smaller overall — move the servings slider in the recipe to 8 instead of 12. That will be 2/3 of the recipe and 2 layers instead of 3. Some of the measurements will be weird though — like 1.33 eggs. It’s hard to scale recipes up/down. Do you have a kitchen scale?
Lauren says
For the crumble, is it 1 cup of whole cereal that is then crushed or 1 cup of cereal crumbs?
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! It’s 1 cup of cereal crumbs.
Lauren says
Thanks so much! I made this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday this past weekend (he looooves CTC) and he absolutely loved it! We were both curious, what is the purpose of putting butter and flour on the pans then covering that butter and flour with parchment paper?
Olivia says
Yay! So glad he liked it 🙂 The parchment paper just helps to ensure the cake doesn’t stick to the pans. Butter and flour sometimes just don’t cut it well enough so I always line the bottom with parchment paper to be safe. The butter/flour on the bottom helps ensure the parchment paper sticks to something and doesn’t slide around when you pour the cake batter in.
Erika says
Thank you for sharing your delicious and creative recipes. I would love to try this cake for a special occasion. I noticed the crumble doesn’t have flour, is that intentional? Thank you again !!
Olivia says
Hi Erika! I figured that the crushed cereal acted like a flour, so I didn’t want to add more. I hope that helps! 🙂
Melisa says
I just made this cake for my son’s 6th birthday. I had to double it for a shaped pan(2 lightning McQueen layers). It was very very good. The cinnamon flavor was exactly right. And everyone absolutely loved the crumble in the middle. I used butter instead of oil and it worked just fine. I would recommend unsalted, or leave out some of the added salt if you do that, though.
The frosting was tasty, but I had the same issue you did at first. It was just too soft. I added an extra cup of powdered sugar and that helped a lot. Still tangy and not to sweet, but I was able to decorate with it.
High marks from the whole family. I will definitely make this again.
Olivia says
Hi Melisa! I’m so glad you guys liked this one 🙂 Thanks for your tips!!
Sammy Walter says
Hi Olivia!
So my best friends are getting married this fall and they’ve asked me to make their wedding cake and I am SO EXCITED! They don’t want to go with any classic flavors so I told them (obviously) to just look at your blog and tell me which cakes they would want to taste test. So I’ll be using 3 Wilton mini spring form pans (4×1.25) to make a few of your cakes into tester size cakes (although I’m sure my friends wouldn’t mind all the leftovers if I did them all regular size;)). So I’m just wondering if you think that halving all of your recipes would be the right amount for 3 4″ pans? Thanks for the help!!
Olivia says
Hi Sammy! That is so exciting!! And that you want to use one of my recipes <3 🙂 I *think* halving the recipes would work fine, and would probably be best for ease of measurements. Just be sure to not fill the pans more than 2/3 full. Let me know which one they decide on!
Lauren says
This looks delicious! I’m planning to make it in a couple weeks for a family gathering. Very silly question: what flavor ice cream would you recommend serving with it? Vanilla? Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! Hmm, I would probably go with something simple like vanilla, or maybe maple 🙂 Let me know how you like it!
Chantelle says
I tried this recipe using 9″ pans (only 2 layers) and it turned out WAY short… like each layer only 1/4″ tall. I couldn’t for the life of me find 8″ cake pans :(. Would you recommend increasing the recipe amounts for a 9″ cake? If so, by how much?
Olivia says
Hi Chantelle! Sorry you had trouble with this! Initially I would say, double the recipe, but judging by your results, I think you should 3x the recipe for two 9″ pans. I hope your second attempt turns out better! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Stefanie Tomlin says
Giving this cake a try today for an office party tomorrow. (Ok OK…it’s totally a competition and this cake looks like a winner!!) Quick question: What made you choose grapeseed oil for the crunch? Does it keep it crunchier? Why not butter?
Olivia says
Hi Stefanie! Honestly, it’s just because I had it on hand and didn’t want it to go bad. Regular oil or butter should work just fine too. I hope you win!! 🙂
Cat Alex says
This looks fantastic! Question: does the cereal crumble in between layers get soggy quickly from the frosting and moisture of the cake? I’m hoping to assemble a cake like this the night before the event where it’s being served, but am worried the cereal crumble in the middle will turn into a soaked mess.
Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Cat! My crumble stayed quite crunchy the next day. As long as you bake it long enough it should be ok. It gets quite hard once baked and cooled. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Rebecca says
I’ve made a version of this cake before and I always absolutely love the extra crunch the cereal adds to the cake. The only down side I’ve found is there doesn’t seem to be a way to keep the cereal super crunchy for more than a few hours. Definitely smart to do the crushed cereal on the outside and the crumble in the middle. Thanks for the great ideas!
Olivia says
Hi Rebecca! The crumble is totally my favourite part. Interesting that yours didn’t stay crunchy, I thought mine did (but it’s been a while and I can’t totally remember). So glad you liked it though! 🙂
Elizabeth Merlin says
Hi Olivia! This recipe looks awesome. I’m going to make it for a friend’s birthday. Do you have storage instructions? Should it be kept room temperature, fridge, freezer?
Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Elizabeth! I would keep it in the fridge and take it out 2-3 hours before serving. If you want to store it for longer, it can totally be frozen, but I suggest in something airtight. I usually portion pieces and wrap them individually before freezing. I hope that helps!
Elizabeth says
Thank you!!
Halima says
Hey Olivia! I’d love to make this for my boyfriend’s 19th birthday but he’s lactose intolerant. Any idea’s on what I could substitute the buttermilk and cream cheese with if possible at all?
Thanks a bunch
Olivia says
Hi Halima! I’m not an expert on dairy-free baking, but you could try it with almond milk (or some other milk alternative) and dairy-free butter? It won’t have the same flavour, but I imagine will be just as good :). Let me know how it turns out!
Stevie says
If I only have cake rounds that measure about 9.5″ across and 1.5″ down, do you think this recipe would fit better as two layers?
Also, do you think making the cake part one day ahead of time (and then sticking in the fridge) would be a good idea? I’m preparing this for my best friend’s Halloween/birthday party – so we have a lot to prepare! I was going to try and get at least a one day head start on the cake rounds, and then just do all the frosting the next day! Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Stevie! Yes, just do two layers. You can totally make the cake layers ahead of time, just be sure to wrap them well in plastic wrap!
Marissa says
I’m a terrible baker, but this looks incredible! Thoughts on using a boxed cinnamon cake? Would any extra ingredients need to be added? Was also thinking about adding cinnamon chips to the cake, if I can find them this time of year.
Olivia says
A boxed cake would work just fine I think 😀 Just follow the directions on the box and you’ll be set.
Abby says
Any advice on making a larger version? Should I just double everything? I am thinking I can do this with 3 8″ pans. I am making a practice cake now, and as I look at these 3 6″ cakes on the cooling rack, they look so tiny!
I am making this for a brunch style wedding shower that is full of sweet breakfast foods already, so I just want a small cake, but maybe this is too small. ..? We are expecting about 15 people tops.
Olivia says
Hi Abby! Yes, double everything for 3 8″ pans and you should be good! The 6″ cake would serve 10-12 people depending on the size of the servings. An 8″ cake should serve 15 people no problem!
Kathi says
This looks devine. Mine, however, looks short. :(. I followed the recipe to a T. Used 2 layer like you said in your comments. Where did I go wrong?
Olivia says
Hi Kathi! Did you do a 2 layer 8″ cake? It would be shorter then since it’s only 2 layers instead of 3.
Chris R. says
oh also, are baking times identical for the 6″ and the 8″? and would you recommend following the steps identically and doing all 3 layers simultaneously? or consecutively?
Olivia says
Hi Chris! Are you planning to double the recipe and use three 8″ pans or use the recipe as is in two 8″ pans? Regardless I would check the cakes at 20mins to see how they’re doing and adjust baking time accordingly. And yes, I would recommend following the steps and doing all of the layers at once.
Chris R says
Just accordingly and I’m gonna try 2 layers for the first time
Olivia says
Ok then yes I would check at 20mins in case the layers are a bit thinner. If they’re still jiggly at that time leave them for another 5mins. Let me know how it turns out! I’m super excited that you’re trying this recipe! 😄
Chris R says
I’m super new to baking. Do you cut off the top of each layer of the cake?
Olivia says
Hi Chris, I don’t actually. My cakes bake up pretty flat. Check out my tutorial here:
http://livforcake.com/2014/09/flat-top-cakes.html
Chris R. says
thank you so much! heading out to get the stuff to try this
Taylor says
Can we subsitute the grape seed oil in the cruchy crumble? This looks so good 😋🍰🍰
Olivia says
Hi Taylor! Regular vegetable oil should work just fine 🙂
Susan says
Would melted butter also work?
Olivia says
Hi Susan! For the crumble? Melted butter should be ok there 🙂
Dani says
How many people does the 6in 3 layers serve?
Olivia says
Hi Dani! About 10 servings, depending on how generous they are 🙂
Samantha says
Hahaha! I had a good laugh at your crumble struggle, i would be the exact same way. Still, this looks amazing as always! x
Olivia says
Haha thanks so much Sam!
Medeja says
Looks gorgeous! I would love at least a small slice!
Olivia says
Thanks Medeja! Sending a slice your way! 🙂
olga says
Now I understand when you say in IG disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well, I think is perfect, and I love this decoration idea, I will used it… I only has to freeze a little bit the cake before, no?
Ryan must be sooooooooooooooooooooo happy with his cake isn´t he?
A great big hug from Spain
Olga
Olivia says
Hi Olga!! Ryan loved the cake, for sure. He said it tasted just like eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk :). And yes, I should have chilled the cake a bit before decorating it so that the frosting wasn’t as soft! Next time :). Hugs!
Ann says
I just love your site! Your mocha cake is my favorite of all time and I’m so glad I’m not the only one with kitchen “mishaps”! I had chocolate batter in my mixer and tilted the head back to give it a final mix by hand. Somehow my hand hit the speed control and chocolate batter went EVERYWHERE. My husband walked in after I had cleaned it off the floors, walls and counter and asked why I had batter all over my hair. Ugh. What a mess! I can’t wait to give this cake a try! It is beautiful as always!
Olivia says
Oh wow, I’ve almost been there but not QUITE that bad. Man I would have been cursing!! I hope you love this cake. Please let me know if you do end up trying it! 🙂
Chris says
And right about now I’m saying “duh” because you probably have a cake board at the bottom of the cake. : )
Olivia says
Hi Chris! That was a totally valid question, I should have clarified, I did have a cake board on the bottom 🙂 I hope you try this one! Let me know how you like it :).
Chris says
Hello! Looks awesome! I’m trying to envision putting a three layer cake on an upside down bowl and not having it droop over the sides of the bowl and break off. I’d love to see a photo of the cake in the process of getting its sides decorated! I’d love to give this cake a try.
Lucy says
OMG. I buy Cinnamon Toast Crunch “for my son” all the time, and then my husband and I eat the whole box. This cake looks incredible! Whyyyy was my birthday two weeks ago?!? Now I need another excuse to bake a cake!
Olivia says
Lol!! I totally understand 😉 The cereal doesn’t last very long around here either :p. Thank you!! <3
Eva says
wow this is a masterpiece. I am never good at baking. But I will give this a go xx Looking perfect!
Olivia says
Thank you Eva!
Teri Giese says
Your cakes,beautiful!Read your Momo.. whatever cake story,hilarious!!😅Am 54 and been a SAHM forever.The WORST fail, (or disaster),was me cleaning the pantry some 20 years ago.Grabbed the neck of a quart bottle of grenadine to clean the top shelf of booze.The neck was in my hand,the bottom stuck to the shelf.A RIVER of grenadine flowing down to the floor,the carpet,under the fridge.Picture the scene from the movie “The Shining”,Rivers of blood in the hallway.eeww!Anyway,wanted to share that. Your so awesome,wanted to give you a laugh!
Olivia says
OMG that is hilarious!! Grenadine is sticky… right?? That would have been a nightmare to clean…especially the carpet! Omg. Thanks for the Monday morning laugh and the compliment! 😀
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
Anything cinnamon is a favorite of mine Olivia! And this cake is just over the top GORGEOUS!!
Olivia says
Thank you so much Mary Ann! That means a lot coming from you 🙂 <3
Karly says
This cake may have just brought my children’ dreams to life. Okay, who am I kidding, it brought my dreams to life. Looks INCREDIBLE!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Karly!! Your comment made my morning 🙂
Kim says
Ryan’s really lucky, hhis cake looks freaking amazing! Must be delicious as hell. And it’s really beautiful.
Your layers looks so moist, fluffy and tasty! The cumble looks delicious too, crunchy and sweet. And your frosting, omg your frosting looks perfect! Just like edible cloud! Altogether this cake must be divine <3
Thank you very much for sharing.
xoxo
Kim
Latest recipe : https://goo.gl/S2qLnV
Olivia says
Thanks so much Kim, I hope you try this recipe!
Kristen Chidsey says
Olivia, this is a cake fit for anyone!! My kids would go crazy for this flavor. I love the added texture!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Kristen! The texture is my favourite part 🙂
Katrina says
Omgsh! My little brother’s 25th birthdsy is in July and he is obsessed with Cinnamon toast crunch. I am definitely making this for our family parry! Thanks.
Olivia says
Yay!! Let me know how you like it 🙂