Cinnamon Chocolate Cake is intensely chocolatey with a hint of spice. This fudgy cake pairs so well with the piquant, mellow sweetness that is salted honey buttercream. This layer cake is hard to resist any time of year but the spice and the honey frosting are so perfectly in tune with the cooler months.
I am a sucker for a layer cake. Especially when it involves chocolate and buttercream. So to celebrate my birthday a few weeks ago I baked this cinnamon chocolate cake with salted honey buttercream (gasp).
It's been on the cards for a while and I think I've shown remarkable restraint right through January by impatiently waiting for February to roll around along with a good excuse to bake it.
Now the waiting is over I'm jumping straight into the details, beginning with the salted honey buttercream.
What is Salted Honey Buttercream?
Quite simply, this honey frosting is a rich and delicious buttercream that has been flavoured with both honey and sea salt.
I always use a deep, amber coloured honey and pound the sea salt to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar so it blends into the frosting evenly and without adding a grainy texture to it.
Without a doubt, this honey frosting is the finest buttercream I've ever made. Sweet it most definitely is, but it's also mellow, thanks to the honey. And there's a slight twang of saltiness to give it a savoury edge.
Bundled up with the chocolate and cinnamon spice, honey buttercream is a grown-up topping that is sure please in this chocolate cinnamon cake.
How to Make Cinnamon Chocolate Cake
The actual cinnamon chocolate cake teams its headline flavours up with dark muscovado sugar and buttermilk.
The result is a dark, soft and fudgy cake with an intense chocolate flavour and a hint of warming spice. It's rather like a pound cake, but a little fudgier.
This cake pairs with the salty-sweet honey frosting perfectly.
It is also easy to make:
- Grease and line 3 x 6-inch baking tins with baking parchment and preheat the oven
- Put the chocolate into a small heatproof bowl and gently melt the chocolate in the microwave (or over a bain-marie). Set aside
- Weigh the flour, cocoa, baking powder & cinnamon into a bowl
- In another bowl cream the butter and sugar together using electric beaters until fluffy and paler in colour.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time
- Sieve half of the flour mixture into the batter and blend, stir in the buttermilk, milk and vanilla extract and then sieve in the remaining flour and mix until just combined
- Take a heaped tablespoon of the cake batter and quickly mix it into the melted chocolate then quickly blend this mixture back into the rest of the cake batter
- Divide the batter between the cake tins & bake
- Let the cake cool in the tins for 2 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Peel off the baking parchment from the bottom of each sponge cake and let cool completely
How to Make Honey Buttercream
It's very easy to make this honey frosting too:
- Use a pestle and mortar to crush the sea salt to a powder
- Using electric beaters whip the butter and icing sugar together - add the icing sugar 1 tbsp at a time
- Beat in the honey, followed by ½ of the powdered salt
- Taste - add more powdered salt to suit tastes
Tip: it is essential to add the salt a little at a time, tasting after each addition until you reach a level of saltiness you are happy with. Use my salt quantity as a guide only - you may prefer more, less or none at all:
Once the cakes are completely cool, sandwich the layers together with the buttercream.
Tip for Using Muscovado Sugar
Just a quick word of warning about muscovado sugar. It has an annoying tendency to harden and form lumps when stored. Do make sure you remove any clumps of sugar before baking commences. If you leave those lumps in, your cake will be prone to sugary holes (but it will still taste amazing).
The Kitchn has some good advice for dealing with these lumps – I went with apple slices in the container and it worked well.
This chocolate cake with cinnamon smothered in salted honey frosting is a marvellous option for winter bakes. All of the flavours it includes are homely, comforting and deeply enticing. Cut yourself a slice and snuggle up with a cosy blanket, a mug of steaming tea and a good book.
If you've enjoyed this cinnamon chocolate cake you might like my other layer cake recipes. Highlights in this collection for chocoholics include:
- Chocolate & Vanilla Malted Milkshake Cake with Italian Buttercream
- Matcha Cake with White Chocolate Mascarpone Buttercream
- Triple Chocolate Layer Cake
If you tried this recipe please give it a rating below. Don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram too - I love to hear how you've got along. Use #littlesugarsnaps and tag me @jane_littlesugarsnaps.
Cinnamon Chocolate Cake with Salted Honey Buttercream
Equipment
- This Cake uses 3 x 6-inch cake tins (see notes for 8-inch cake)
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 180 g/ ¾ cup butter - softened
- 180 g/ 1 cup dark muscovado sugar (lump free - see tips in main text)
- 180 g/ 1 ½ cups plain (all purpose) flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 3 eggs
- 6 tbsp buttermilk
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 125 g/ 1 cup dark chocolate - roughly chopped (I used 65% cocoa solids)
For the Buttercream
- 300 g butter/ 1 ⅓ cup butter - softened
- 240 g / 2 ⅛ cup icing (confectionary) sugar - sieved
- 3 tbsp runny honey
- ¼ tsp seasalt
Decoration
- Ground cinnamon
- Cinnamon sticks (optional)
Instructions
- Grease and line 3 x 6 inch baking tins with baking parchment
- Preheat oven 175C/ 325F/ GM3
- Weigh the flour, cocoa, baking powder & cinnamon into a bowl
- Put the chocolate into a small heatproof bowl and gently melt the chocolate in the microwave (or over a bain-marie) and set aside
- In another bowl cream the butter and sugar together using electric beaters until fluffy and paler in colour
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time
- Sieve half of the flour mixture into the batter and blend
- Add the buttermilk, milk and vanilla extract and mix
- Sieve in the remaining flour and mix until just combined
- Take a heaped tablespoon of the cake batter and quickly mix it into the melted chocolate then quickly blend this mixture back into the rest of the cake batter
- Divide the batter between the 3 cake tins, level slightly and bake for 22-25 minutes until the sponge springs back when lightly pressed or a skewer comes out clean
- Let cool in the tins for 2 minutes, then remove from the tins, peel off the baking parchment from the bottom of each sponge cake and let cool completely on a wire rack
Make the buttercream
- Use a pestle and mortar to crush the sea salt to a powder
- Using electric beaters whip the butter and icing sugar together - add the icing sugar 1 tbsp at a time
- Beat in the honey, followed by ½ of the powdered salt
- Taste - add a little more powdered salt to suit tastes
Assemble the cake
- Lay one chocolate sponge cake onto a board and spread ¼ of the icing on top
- Place another layer of cake carefully on top of the layer of icing and top with another ¼ of the icing, spread it out and top with the final layer of cake
- Spread another ¼ icing on top of the cake and use the remaining icing to pipe rosettes on the top of the cake
- Dust with a little ground cinnamon and decorate with cinnamon sticks if desired
This cake was absolutely delicious! I managed to make one 8" round cake, plus 2×4" round cakes with this base recipe, no doubling. I also managed to make one 10" round cake baked for 40 minutes with this recipe, no doubling.
Ah thanks for the feedback Sarah. Sounds like you have really enjoyed this cake. It's perhaps the perfect time of year for making it.
This sounds AMAZING! Cinnamon is such a wonderful spice and can add such a nice flavor. I don't think I've ever added it to my chocolate cakes before. And that buttercream?! Sounds delicious! It's a nice unique flavor for when you feel like changing things up a bit. This recipe looks amazing and I'll just have to try it!
This sounds absolutely wonderful!! And the frosting sounds to good for words. I can't wait to try it!
Hoewever, as I do not have 6" pans, let alone 3 of them, I will have to go with 8" pans.
Can this recipe, as is, not doubled, be put into a 9x13 pan? And if so, what would the recommended cook time be?
Hi Eileen, I've just been googling the volume in cups of the various cake pans and, working on what I've found, I think that the recipe as stated should work in the 9x13 inch cake pan. But I re-iterate that I think it will work - I have not cooked the recipe in this size tin before. Just ensure that you do not overfill or underfill the tin - around 2/3 full is ideal to prevent the batter either overflowing during baking or resulting in a thin cake. I'd guess around 40-50 minutes cook time, but I would keep a close eye on it from 30 minutes onwards, and although I typically would resist opening the oven door, if you think the top of the cake is in danger of burning, lay a piece of baking parchment over it to help prevent this. Good luck - I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks!
Well....
Good news and bad news...
Cake batter tasted great, and filled the pan perfectly. The bummer was the timing. I should have started with 20 mins and checked from there. Probably @23 mins would have been perfect. At 30 mins, it was already over cooked. Not burned, but dried out.
I continued to cool it and divide it into thirds though.
The buttercream is fantastic!!
I assembled my 3 layers and gave it a slice...totally dry. You could tell the flavor was nice, but the texture was the pits. The frosting helped...
It looked nice all assembled.
I will give it a try again soon, but I will use the frosting on lots of things!
Wow - I can't believe it cooked so quickly - what a shame. However, I'm glad you like the taste and the buttercream and I hope that next time you catch it before it overcooks. When cooked properly the cake is dense, but not dry - a bit like a pound cake. And yes, the buttercream - I could eat that everyday and never tire of it.
I tried this for the first time and my cake turned out dry. I had time extend the baking time as the probe came out with batter on it. I doubled the recipe because I have the larger 9" cake pans. Maybe I over filled them and the over baked?
The taste was great and the frosting wonderful! I'm not sure what I should focus on to improve the moistness of the cake.
Hi Gil. Thanks for getting in touch. I would always expect to bake a little longer for larger cake tins to ensure the centre is cooked. However, if you put the entire amount of batter into the tin after doubling the recipe this is most likely the cause of the cake being a little dry. With too much batter in the tin overall the cake will dry out while waiting for the centre to be cooked. I'd advise filling the tins no more than 2/3 full and using any remaining batter to make a few cupcakes (freezable). I hope this helps for the future - the result should be a slightly dense, slightly fudgy cake that pairs with the rich buttercream very well.
Thank you very much Jane! I look forward to my next attempt.
Can I use this recipe for cupcakes as well??
I've not made cupcakes with the batter, but I think it would be fine. As I've not made it into cupcakes I'm not sure how many you'll get or if the measures for the buttercream with be enough/ too much for your requirements. Hope they turn out well.
Salted honey buttercream?!! Sign me up!! Looks incredible!