Vanilla pound cake, combines with a cinnamon swirl and a crunchy brown sugar and cinnamon topping for an easy and delicious cinnamon loaf.
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Cooler weather just cries out for cinnamon! This Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake Loaf is sure to warm you up as the weather cools.
This loaf is a cinnamon lovers dream, that will fill you with all the warming Fall feelings. With it’s lovely swirl of cinnamon cake, combined with the vanilla pound cake and a crunchy brown sugar and cinnamon topping, you’ll never be tempted by the coffee shop version again!
Ingredient Notes
Sour Cream – full fat sour cream is recommended, for best results. Alternately, a full fat Greek-style yogurt would also work here.
Milk – again, whole milk (3.5% b.f.) will give you the best results, though 2% will also work, if that’s all you have on hand. I wouldn’t recommend a lower fat milk. I haven’t tested this recipe with non-dairy milk.
Butter – Salted butter is fine here. If you only have unsalted, you can a touch more salt.
You will also need – white sugar, eggs, vanilla, all purpose flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Recipe Video
Baking Tips
I used my tea loaf pan for this loaf. It’s pretty close in volume to a standard 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, but just slightly bigger, at 4 x 10 inches, so it produces a slightly narrower, longer loaf and shorter loaf. Of course, there is method to my madness with this choice of pan. The narrower, longer, shorter loaf means I can take a thicker slice, without actually eating any more than a thinner slice of a taller loaf (are you still with me here? :). And if you are a frequent loaf slice consumer, you know that the best part of those coffee shop loaves is the thick slices!
If you don’t have a tea loaf pan, the standard 8×4-inch will work just fine. The 8×4 loaf may take an extra few minutes in the oven.
When it comes to pound cake baking, starting with room temperature butter, eggs and sour cream is important, for best results. Simply remove them all from the fridge for 45-60 minutes before you start baking.
Measuring the flour is another area that can make or break your pound cake. Stir your flour first, the scoop or spoon it into your dry measuring cups, then level off with the back of a knife. The “scoop and level” method of measuring flour. It can make a huge difference in the finished result of your baking!
Top Tip
For best results, try your best not to over-bake this one. Even a few minutes of over-baking can result in a drier loaf. Test often towards the end of baking and remove when as soon as a tester inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
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Get the Recipe: Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake Loaf
Ingredients
Loaf:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (190 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
Cinnamon Swirl:
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon milk
Topping:
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F (not fan assisted) and grease an 8 x 4-inch or 4 x 10-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add 1/2 of the dry mixture to the butter mixture, then the sour cream, then the rest of the flour mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Remove 1 cup of the batter to a medium bowl. Add the cinnamon swirl ingredients to it - the brown sugar, cinnamon and milk and stir to combine.
- Spoon a thin layer of the plain batter into the bottom of your prepared loaf pan. Using a spoon, drop alternating spoonfuls of the plain and the cinnamon batter into the pan. Top with the remaining plain batter and smooth the top. Using a long skewer or knife, run through the batter in the pan a few times (either lengthwise or from side to side). Just about 3 lengthwise or 4-5 side to side should do it).
- Make topping by combining the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the top of the loaf.
- Bake loaf in the preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean. (4x10 pan will cook more quickly, 55-60 minutes, while an 8x4 will take a bit longer, closer to 65 or a few minutes more).
- Allow loaf to cool in the pan about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the outside and remove to a cooling rack to cool.
Notes
More Pound Cake Loaves from the Seasons and Suppers Archives
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Hi, Jennifer – found this cinnamon pound cake recipe of yours and I think it will be perfect for my Christmas morning “bread” for us and to give away!!! Question for you: Can I safely double the recipe so that I can make 2 loaves at a time? I will need to make 6 of these at Christmas so I will also need to freeze them, and if I can make 2 at a time, that would really save me some time in the kitchen. Obviously, letting them thaw overnight on the counter before giving??
Thank you for your time.
Virginia Dryden
Hi Virginia and yes, you can safely double the recipe to make 2 loaves at a time. They should freeze nicely, as well. Enjoy!
Hi, one more question for you, please: I have the 9×5 tin steel loaf pans. Do you think the recipe will bake okay in these? I recently read somewhere that these steel pans are the best to use for baking because they bake more evenly than say the glass loaf pans.
Again, thank you for your time,
Virginia Dryden
Hi Virginia and yes, steel loaf pans are great. That’s all I use myself. That said, the recipe is for an 8×4-inch loaf pan, so while it will work in a 9×5, it will produce a shorter loaf and will cook more quickly. I would start checking/testing it regularly after about 45 minutes of baking.
Hi! Made this and added walnuts and raisins. It was the best and my grandchildren loved it. Thank you for this it was indeed so delish.
So glad you enjoyed it, Rebecca. Thanks!
Can this loaf be frozen?
Hi Janet, the loaf itself stand up really well to freezing, though the crumble topping will probably lose a bit of it’s crunch with freezing/thawing.
Just about to make this, and I’m wondering if I can make 3 of these at a time in one oven? Have you tried that? Is there any need to adjust the timing or rotate them half way through? Thanks! – Danica
Hi Danica and sorry for the delay in getting back to you (was away for the weekend :) I’m sure you have baked them already, but just to answer your question anyway, it should be find and pretty much the same baking 3 at a time. You could switch their position in the oven, if your oven has a hot spot, but other than that, all good.
How do you recommend storing? if I make it a day ahead Thank you
Hi Ca, I would not cover completely, as the topping is likely to get soft and soggy. I would return it to the loaf pan after completely cooling and just lay a piece of plastic wrap loosely (not air-tight) over the top and leave to sit on the counter.
Made it ~ divine! There were thumbs up all ’round. Texture was great and moist (nothing worse than a crumbly dry pound cake). I think the crunch on top was the best. Must remember that for other pound cake recipes…maybe using demerara or turbindo sugar for extra crunch factor.
So glad to hear, Vivian! Thanks :)
So good! Just made it. Perfect for a very snowy day in Victoria!
So glad to hear, Nadine :) Thanks!
Such a dreamy loaf, I love the cinnamon swirl!
Thanks Laura!
I made this 2 days ago; very easy to make and so incredibly tasty that the family polished it off already! Will be making it again very soon! What’s nice is that these ingredients are what I always have on hand. Thank you for your wonderful site! I come here to be motivated to make dinner! And find myself making so much more.
Thanks Lisa and yes, it’s always nice to have a recipe that can be made without a special shopping trip, isn’t it? :)
The texture of your cake looks absolutely perfect Jennifer, it’s going on my baking schedule!!
Thanks so much, Sue :)
The crunchy cinnamon topping wins it for me. I love experiencing cinnamon heat and might even increase the quantity for the topping only:) Totally support you about biting into a thick slice. There is a lot of wisdom in your comments about going with a narrower loaf pan:)
Thanks Milena :) I’ve learned to know my eating tendencies and to try to head them off at the pass :)
Jennifer!!!! This loaf looks absolutely amazing! I am a sucker for anything cinnamon, so this gorgeous swirl pound cake is just screaming my name! I am seriously salivating right now (please send napkins)! Totally making this soon! Pinned! Cheers!
Thanks so much, Cheyanne :)
Haha! I could totally see me getting inspired in a drive through line. Yours looks better than anything I could imagine buying!
Thanks Chris!
I’m a big cinnamon lover Jennifer, so this is definitely the cake of my dreams! Can’t wait to bake a loaf!
Thanks Mary Ann :)
What a beautiful pound cake Jennifer! My family would go nuts for this cake, especially this time of year. Love the warm cinnamon brown sugar combination. Pinning!
Thanks Tricia. It was gone in a flash here :)
This looks perfectly swirled and I can only imagine the warm smell it makes in the kitchen as it bakes! I see a weekend baking project coming up soon :)
Thanks Dawn and yes, perfect baking for this time of year :)