Introducing my easy Cinnamon Tea Cake. It comes together in minutes and boasts a buttery crumb and a sweet cinnamon sugar crust. The perfect cake for morning tea!
The humble tea cake ❤️
I’m so excited to share my Cinnamon Tea Cake recipe with you today. It’s incredibly easy to make but it tastes like you’ve slaved away in the kitchen for hours.
It has a super soft and tender crumb that’s buttery and sweet, and a crisp cinnamon sugar topping.
You only need a handful of ingredients and you’ve got the perfect cake to share with family and friends.
Why you will love this recipe
- The cake is soft and tender
- It’s quick and easy to make
- You only need a handful of ingredients
- It tastes like a hot cinnamon donut
Lately I’m becoming more and more obsessed with easy bakes, including one layer cakes like this one. And I have you to thank for it. My most popular recipes are almost ALWAYS ones that are quick and easy to make and can be replicated again and again with success.
I think that’s why my Apple Cake is one of the most popular recipes on my entire site.
And I’m right there with you. Yes, sometimes I love a challenge or to create something more extravagant, but let’s be real. Most of the time, I need foolproof bakes that can whipped up quick when friends are popping over for morning tea or an easy dessert I can take to a dinner party after I finish a day at work.
So what makes this cake so special? Well apart from being easy to throw together, it’s actually one of my all-time favourite cakes. I have a whole stack of it in my freezer because sometimes you just need a quick cake fix.
And even though this cake has no frosting, that buttery cinnamon crust makes me weak at the knees. After this cake is baked, you actually brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle over cinnamon sugar. If you serve this cake warm, you could close your eyes and think you are eating a warm cinnamon donut. #hello
TIPS FOR MAKING CINNAMON TEA CAKE
- You will need an electric mixer for this recipe. Start with room temperature butter, you don’t want it fridge cold but it shouldn’t be melty by any means.
- We start by beating together the butter and sugar, this process is known as creaming. After a few minutes, the two will combine and turn pale and creamy. This process helps create a nice light and fluffy cake. It can be tempting to beat for 30 seconds or so just to combine the butter and sugar but if you keep going for another minute or so, you’ll see it change texture and almost look a little ‘whipped’. Perfect!
- Next comes the eggs. Sometimes when you add the eggs, the cake batter can turn lumpy and look a little curdled. That’s fine.
- Add half of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and cinnamon) and ALL the milk. Start to slowly mix together and then add the remaining dry ingredients. Transfer mixture to a cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- When you remove the cake from the oven, generously brush melted butter all over the top. Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. This Cinnamon Tea Cake is delicious served warm.
MORE ONE LAYER CAKE RECIPES TO TRY
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Let’s Bake
Cinnamon Tea Cake
A delicious light and tender Cinnamon Tea Cake.
Ingredients
Tea cake
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) full fat or whole milk
Cinnamon sugar topping
- 20 grams (1 tablespoon) butter, melted
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar or granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale and creamy, approximately 1-2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat briefly – don’t worry if the mixture goes lumpy – then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add half of the flour mixture, along with all the milk and slowly mix together on a low speed. Add the remaining flour mix and continue to mix until cake batter is smooth and creamy.
- Pour cake batter into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- While the cake is still warm, generously brush with melted butter and then sprinkle over cinnamon and sugar. Enjoy a slice while the cake is warm.
Eunice inoc says
Hi. Can I use a loaf pan instead?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes you can, you will just have to adjust the cooking time.
Liya says
Any idea how long in a loaf pan?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Liya, it depends on the size of your loaf pan and the depth of the batter. Go for visual cues and insert a skewer in the middle to test if it’s done – it should come out clean when it’s ready.
Jeanette says
This cake tastes amazing and is so light and fluffy. A definite hit and keeper in our household. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Thank you so much for the kind review Jeanette!
sonia says
looks very delicious and eager to try. what can i substitute eggs with.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sonia, I haven’t tested the recipe without eggs I’m sorry. I do hope you get to try it!
Anna says
Hello, eager to try this recipe. I’m an Aussie living in USA and miss this tea cake. I wanted to check – for the ingredients are they in metric or US imperial?
Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Anna! So glad you are going to try this cake. I measure all my ingredients in grams using a kitchen scale – and that’s what I recommend rather than using cups. But for the cup measurements I use American cups, so 240ml = 1 cup. Hope that helps!
Milly Conquest says
The first time I made this I tried with gluten free flour so it was very dense but tasted lovely. I tried again today with normal flour and it came out perfectly! Delicious and goes down a treat with a nice cuppa. I just want to eat it all at once!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Milly!
Jayne says
I made this today for the first time & absolutely loved it. So soft & spongy, perfect with a cup of tea.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Jayne!
Mary Buckley says
I was super excited to make this recipe, but I’m afraid I made a crucial mistake! After the 30 minute timer went off, thencake was jiggly in the center and boiling over! What could I have done wrong? I used all correct measurements (I thought anyway). Thanks in advance – I will be trying this again.!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Mary, oh that’s strange! I’m not sure what happened. Do you think you maybe used the wrong raising agent?
Mireia Gallardo Avellan says
We got inspired for our vegan cinnamon cake and it was wonderful. Love the taste and texture!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Manisha says
I made tea cinnamon cake, it turned out really yummy n super soft n spongy..Thanku for the recepi
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Susan Morris says
Another touchdown! This is my second recipe from your blog! I think I love you, as does my neighbor!! I love the simplicity of your recipes, and the Awesome result! Made it to my Binder 2 for 2:)
Jessica Holmes says
Aw love hearing that Susan! Thank you so much for the kind feedback!
Cali says
I’m wondering if I would be able to make this recipe using salted butter instead since that’s all I have at home.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Cali, yes absolutely!
Saurabh says
Very cool, very easy, very yum. This was the first time I baked a cake and still it turned out perfect.
Jessica Holmes says
Aw love that! Well done!
Karlee says
Easy and delicious! My three little girls decided it tasted like and was even better than hot cinnamon donuts 😊
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Karlee! And I agree, just like a hot cinnamon donut ❤️
Ashley says
I made this cake today and EVERYONE loved it. I made it dairy free by substituting butter for nuttelex and milk for almond milk and it turned out wonderful. Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Ashley, so glad you enjoyed it! And glad to hear it worked well with the substitutions too!
Maddy says
This looks so delicious! Have you tried making it using a muffin tin instead of making it a cake? I’d love to make a bunch of tasty muffins to share!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Maddy, so glad you like it! Yes you could definitely make it into muffins!
Kat says
How many muffins would this recipe make?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Kat, my guess is around 10 or so.
Maddy says
It made about 18 muffins for me, but I don’t overfill the tins so they’re no too large (:
I also changed the cooktime to 25 min.