vegan cinnamon swirl cake

This Vegan Cinnamon Swirl Cake is warmly spiced and irresistible, with a crunchy cinnamon sugar crust, covered in cinnamon frosting, and decorated with pretty fresh flowers!

Hi buddies and happy Tuesday! I have a super special recipe for you guys today - Vegan Cinnamon Swirl Cake. What's so special about it, you wonder? Well, today is my one month wedding anniversary, and I thought it would be fun to celebrate by sharing a replica of my wedding cake's top tier! ???? The original was made by the amazing Jenny Layne Bakery and it wasn't vegan, but well - you know me. I had to at least try. And I am just obsessed with how delicious this cake turned out!

You may remember that I shared about our cake tasting with Jenny a few months ago, and we tried so many delicious flavors. It was so hard to narrow it down! We decided it was too difficult to pick just ONE flavor, so we did three different flavor combinations for our three tiers 🙂 The top was a cinnamon swirl cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, the middle was this amazing strawberry hibiscus cake with coconut and pecans and a strawberry cream cheese filling, and the bottom was chocolate cake with Oreo filling. It was all SO GOOD!

The reason I decided to decorate my little cinnamon swirl cake like this is because it looks just like what Jenny did with our cake! And the flowers on top are from centerpieces from our actual wedding. I actually made this cake and took photos about a week after the wedding before they totally bit the dust. I just thought it would be a cute touch to incorporate them!

I'm sure you think this cake is all good and dandy, but the real question is - what did my ACTUAL wedding cake look like?! Well, I'm very happy to report that I got my stunning wedding photos back from Jennefer Wilson so I can share! 🙂

Oh hi, that's me!! And yes, you're seeing it correctly - we DID have a tower of donuts at the wedding in addition to the cake ???? Those were also from Jenny Layne and they were such a fun touch! Very on brand for me, I would say. LOL.

I hope you guys love this cinnamon swirl cake as much as I do! It's packed with warm cinnamon flavors, and the brown sugar-cinnamon swirl on top creates the most irresistible crunchy crust. YUM. It pairs perfectly with the barely-cinnamon vegan buttercream! I am totally obsessed!!!

{wedding photos by Jennefer Wilson}

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

vegan cinnamon swirl cake

This Vegan Cinnamon Swirl Cake is warmly spiced and irresistible, with a crunchy cinnamon sugar crust, covered in cinnamon frosting, and decorated with pretty fresh flowers!

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time2 hours hrs

Course: Breads &amp, Loaf Cakes

Servings: 12

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Ingredients

• *for the cake*
• 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoon water
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup vegan butter at room temperature
• ⅓ cup nondairy yogurt
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup unsweetened nondairy milk
• *for the swirl*
• 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
• *for the frosting*
• ½ cup vegan butter
• ½ cup vegan shortening
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2-3 tablespoon unsweetened nondairy milk as needed
• *for the ganache*
• 3 oz dark chocolate
• 2-3 tablespoon nondairy milk more or less as needed

Instructions

• First, make the cake. Preheat oven to 350F and spray two 6" round cake pans with nonstick baking spray.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed with the water and set aside to thicken.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and white sugar.
• Add in the vegan butter, and beat on low until it's incorporated and has a sandy texture.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, flaxseed mixture, nondairy yogurt, vanilla extract, and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
• Pour in the unsweetened nondairy milk, and beat on medium-low until smooth and creamy.
• In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugars for the swirl.
• Divide batter evenly among the 2 pans, and sprinkle on the cinnamon mix on top. Using a knife or toothpick, swirl it within the batter. Bake for 45 minutes until cake is set in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.
• When ready to assemble, prepare the frosting for the cake. Using a stand mixer, beat together the rest of the vegan butter and shortening. Add in the vanilla and cinnamon, and add in powdered sugar as needed to create a thick frosting. You can add a few spoonfuls of nondairy milk if it's too thick.
• To assemble the cake, divide the 2 cake layers in half to create 4 thin layers.
• Place one cake piece on your cake stand or platter, spoon some frosting in the center, and spread it to create a thin layer. Repeat with all.
• Frost the outside of the cake with the rest of the frosting as desired. Place cake in fridge while you prepare the ganache.
• Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 15-20 second increments until melted. Add in nondairy milk as needed, stirring well, until ganache is smooth and creamy. If it appears lumpy or grainy, don't worry! Just add more milk and keep stirring. It will come back together!
• Drizzle the ganache on top of the cooled cake, and decorate the top with fresh flowers. Enjoy!