Your favorite cereal in cake form! Cinnamon cake layers, 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.
A few years, 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 favorite 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 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. And it can cause your cake to be more dense.
How to Make this Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake
I added a bit of cinnamon to my Vanilla Cake recipe and paired it with a cream cheese frosting to cut down some of the sweetness from the cereal. I also used cereal milk (Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal steeped in milk) for added flavor.
One of my favorite elements of the Momofuku cakes is the crumble. It adds an amazing flavor 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.
Cake Tip!
An easy option would just be to use straight-up crushed up cereal between the layers if you like.
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!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert this recipe?
- The recipe as-is will also work in three 6″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe. Baking time may need to be adjusted.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on size.
- For other conversions go here.
Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- The cooled cereal crumble can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
- The finished cake (whole or sliced, stored airtight) can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Can I get the measurements by weight/grams?
- There is a Metric option in the recipe card. If you click it it will convert everything to grams.
- This conversion is done automatically and I cannot guarantee the accuracy but many readers have had success using the metric option for this recipe.
Tip 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. Or just skip the crumble and use roughly chopped/crushed cereal between the layers.
- The frosting is soft, so be careful pressing the crushed-up Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal into the sides. I recommend chilling the frosted cake slightly before doing so.
- Be careful not to over-mix the batter as this can cause tunnelling in the cake.
- I like to prepare my cake pans using Homemade Cake Release then line with parchment.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake
Ingredients
Cereal Milk:
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon ground
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup cereal milk room temperature
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Crumble:
- 1 cup crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp grape seed oil or any vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
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 crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
Instructions
Cereal Milk:
- Place milk and cereal in a medium bowl. Stir well and steep for 20-25mins. Strain into a small bowl using a fine mesh sieve. Gently press the milk out of the cereal using a spatula or wooden spoon. Separate out 1 cup of the cereal milk for the cake. Save the remainder of the milk for the assembly. Discard the cereal.
Cinnamon Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds, line with parchment. Wrap with EvenBake strips.
- 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 cereal milk, 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 30-35mins 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.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch 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. Brush with 2-3 Tbsp cereal milk. Top with 2/3 cup of frosting and spread evenly. Sprinkle with crumble or crushed cereal. Repeat with remaining layers. Frost outside of cake and press crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal into the sides.
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!