Soft, buttery, and perfectly spiced chai cinnamon swirl Bundt cake is delicious for dessert, brunch, or with your afternoon coffee. Add a generous drizzle of brown butter icing and this cake soars to new heights. Itโs a giant cake, for sure, so invite a bunch of friends and family over to help gobble it up.
We can say with 100% confidence this chai cinnamon swirl Bundt cake is a recipe you must try, especially in the fall season. Itโs truly perfectโwe tested it at least half a dozen times! Do you know how much butter that is?! Perhaps it was a little determination, maybe a degree of perfectionism, but we think weโll describe it as a serious commitment to all things cinnamon swirl. Speaking of cinnamon swirl…cinnamon swirl quick bread? Cinnamon swirl banana bread? Talk about commitment to cinnamon swirl!
And do you know whatโs better than a cinnamon swirl? One including chai spices. Youโll fall in love with the chai-spiced flavor.
Chai Spiced Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
- Texture: This chai Bundt cake is thick, soft, and moist with a tight crumb. Itโs not quite as dense as this cream cheese pound cake, but not as light and airy as white cake. Nestled somewhere in between!
- Flavor: Thereโs tons of buttery and brown sugar goodness, all swirled with chai-spice and topped with a gorgeous brown butter icing. Your taste buds will thank you.
- Ease: This is a big crowd-pleasing cake thatโs much easier than expected. Plus, thereโs no crazy assembly or decoration required. There are so many reasons why this is one of our favorite fall cake recipes!
- Time: The total time is over 5 hours and most of that time is waiting for the Bundt cake to cool.
Recipe Testing: What Works & What Doesn’t
- Why this recipe works. Creamed butter + sugar make up the base of this chai cinnamon swirl Bundt cake. So thereโs tons of buttery flavor at the heart of it! Instead of flavorless granulated sugar, we sweeten the cake with brown sugar. It tastes delightful with the thick swirl of warm chai spice flavors.
- Making it super moist. Since Bundt cakes are fairly large, they tend to be a little dry. We compensate for this by adding more moisture. Sour cream, milk, and 5 large eggs help guarantee a super-moist and tender crumb. Just be careful not to overbake it, otherwise youโll sabotage all your efforts in keeping it moist! And if you like this recipe, it has the same base recipe as cranberry orange Bundt cake.
- The wet ingredients. The wet ingredients might appear curdled and thatโs due to the ranging temperatures and consistencies of the ingredients. The solid butter may be warmer than the liquid eggs, the thick sour cream may be colder than the butter, etc. This is normal, and it comes together after you add the dry ingredients.
- The chai spice swirl. Hidden inside the cake is a generous swirl of flavor: brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and allspice. Youโll notice these are the same spices we enjoy in frosted chai snickerdoodles, chai spice donuts and chai latte cupcakes. Layer the swirl between the cake batter: half of the cake batter on the bottom and half of the cake batter on the top. Thereโs actually no need to swirl it โ the oven will take care of that. The weight of the cake batter rises and falls as it bakes, moving the cinnamon swirl along with it.
- Brown butter icing. This cake is undeniably delicious, buttery, and moist. And we donโt usually say this, but it could even be enjoyed without the chai spice swirl and icing! Of course, my team and I would never pass up an opportunity for icing. We just love the brown butter flavor, but if you donโt feel like browning butter, you could easily replace it with vanilla icing, brown sugar icing from pumpkin donuts, or salted caramel.
Bundt Cake Pan
I generally use the same Bundt cake pan because I love it. Even though itโs nonstick, I always generously grease it just to be safe. (Bundt cakes are notorious for sticking no matter what!) Bundt cakes always release very easily and the shape is just so lovely. I also have and recommend this Bundt cake pan too.
More Favorite Baking Recipes
- Homemade Apple Pie with Chai Spices
- Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread
- Pumpkin Cupcakes and Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Giant Cinnamon Roll Cake
- Hummingbird Bundt Cake
- Apple Crumb Cake & Classic Crumb Coffee Cake
Chai Spiced Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This chai spice cinnamon Bundt cake is deliciously moist, soft, and buttery. It’s perfect for dessert, brunch, or with your afternoon cup of coffee!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) full fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk, at room temperature
- optional for topping: vanilla icing (see Note)
Chai Cinnamon Swirl
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) and grease aย 10-inch Bundt pan.
- For the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. The mixture will look curdled; that’s okโit will come together when you add the dry ingredients.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, add the milk, and beat on medium speed it all until the batter is completely combined. Batter is thick, yet silky.
- For the chai cinnamon swirl: Mix the swirl ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Pour half of the cake batter evenly into the prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle the swirl ingredients evenly on topโit will be a thick layer of swirl! Cover evenly with remaining cake batter.
- Bake forย 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. This is a large, heavy cake so don’t be alarmed if it takes a little longer in your oven.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2ย hours inside the pan. Then, invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a wire rack or serving dish. Allow to cool completely.
- As the cake cools, prepare the icing. Try vanilla icing, the brown butter icing used on peach Bundt cake, the brown sugar icing used on pumpkin donuts, the maple icing used on banana scones, or homemade salted caramel. I used the brown butter icing in these photos. Drizzle icing over cake before slicing and serving.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the entire cake ahead of time (before topping with icing). Cover cooled cake and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before icing and serving.ย Baked cake can be frozen up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature (if desired) before icing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10-inch Bundt Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Frosting Options: vanilla icing, brown butter icing from peach Bundt cake, brown sugar icing from pumpkin donuts, maple icing from banana scones, or salted caramel
- Why Room Temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about the importance of room temperature ingredients.ย
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I use a regular oven cake pan such as square or round or does it have to be a bundt pan?
Hi Fatema, there is too much batter for a regular cake pan. See this post on cake pan sizes and conversions for help with converting this recipe to what size pans you own.
I just made this cake and the same thing happened to me that others have mentionedโฆthe cake split at the cinnamon spice layer. Iโm sure it will still taste good, but it doesnโt look great.
I am looking for an excuse to use my new mini bundt pan. I’ve made this cake several times and it’s always a hit so I’d like to try making mini bundts with it! Would it be okay to use it for this recipe? Any adjustments to the recipe or baking time? Or is there another recipe you’d recommend instead for that? Thanks!
Hi Cally! Mini Bundt pans should work great here. Same temperature, but bake time will vary depending on the size of your mini Bundt pans. Let us know if you try it!
I really liked this cake recipe however the chai mixture did not somehow move magically throughout the batter but just stayed in its own separate layer, which was tasty but also a bit disappointing. If I make it again I think I will swirl the layers together before baking.
Can i make it without the chai cinnamon swirl?
Absolutely! Simply skip that step/part of the recipe.
Another fan favorite for sure!
Can plain yogurt be used instead of sour cream?
Hi Maria, yesโsame amount.
This recipe didn’t work for me. I always use a kitchen scale when I bake for accuracy, so maybe the grams reported here are off? I agree with another commentator here who said the recipe has too much butter and comes out greasy.
Yummy. Very buttery. I followed the recipe exactly, but after the 2 hours of cooling, the cake separated at the spice mixture and came out in two pieces. Very disappointing.
Would this be good as jumbo muffins? How many would it make you think?
Hi Keli, that should work just fine! We’re unsure of the exact yield or bake time, but you can follow the directions for these jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
This recipe got me started on Bundt cakes.
WOW, A-MAZING! I love this cake because itโs so different than anything Iโve had or made in a while. The cake itself is moist and the spices are delicious. Then add the brown butter frosting and itโs a winner! I will definitely be making this again and again.
I have a pound cake style recipe that only uses oil, as we need dairy free in our house. though the batter is thicker than regular cake batter, it is definitely thinner than the pictures shown here. Do you think that I can add in this sugar-and-cinnamon-only swirl, and get this amazing gooiness, or it may just sink to the bottom?
Hi M, it’s really hard to say without trying that exact recipe ourselves. Let us know if you do give it a try!
I think recipe should have this note: Donโt get the swirl mixture too close to the pan or it will melt
and stick to the side!
Could I make this recipe in little loaf pans?
Hi Natalie, you sure can! Same baking temp. The yield and bake time will depend on the size of your pans. Keep a close eye on them to ensure they donโt over-bake. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I followed the directions, but it seemed to not cook all the way through, even though it was a little too brown on top and on the edges. I covered it with foil half way through the cooking process, but it didnโt seem to work. Could it be because i used a silicone pan, so it was thinner than a normal panโฆ? Should I adjust the temperature to 300 instead of 350? I love all of your recipes! They have never steered me wrong, so Iโm thinking itโs something on my end that needs to be adjusted. Thank you!!
Hi Monique, we haven’t tested this recipe in a silicone Bundt pan, so it’s possible that pan could use some different time and temperature adjustments. We’d start by trying a lower temperature for longer as you suggest. You could also try moving it down a rack (away from the heating element) to prevent over-browning. Thank you so much for giving this one a try!
This may sound crazy…but would it be possible to make this simply a cinnamon bundt cake and omit the extra spices? Should I add more cinnamon to compensate?
Thanks you!
Hi Vera, you can leave out the extra chai spices, yes! We would try 1 Tbsp cinnamon in the sugar swirl.
Amazing recipe!! I used 4 eggs instead of 5 and substituted the sour cream with greek yogurt. It came out moist and sooooo delicious and not too sweet. Iโve had multiple neighbours asking for more!! Also a tip for those who have trouble with stuck bundt cakes: I grease the pan with butter and then put flour in, shake it around and pour out the excess flour (should thinly coat the entire pan) WORKS LIKE A CHARM. It just falls right out without having to loosen the sides or tap on it!!
“Thereโs actually no need to swirl it โ the oven will take care of that. The weight of the cake batter rises and falls as it bakes, moving the cinnamon swirl along with it.”
My “swirl” all stayed exactly where I put it in a single layer. What went wrong? Rest of the cake tasted delicious but it was a disappointment to have no actual swirl throughout.
Hi Nikki, If the rest of the cake was delicious, nothing was necessarily wrong. If you try this again and would like to use a knife to swirl it in a little more, you certainly can.
Can you bake this batter in batches in a 4 cup mini Bundt pan? Would you cook at 350 or change the temp?
Hi Skye, you sure can! Same baking temp. The yield and bake time will depend on the size of your mini Bundt pans. Keep a close eye on them to ensure they donโt over-bake. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
This was DELICIOUS! I think I did something wrong in preparing it though, because it had more of a moist cornbread texture. Unless that is correct lol. Either way, so yummy.
Hi Lindsay! See the section titled “Why Does my Cake Taste Like Cornbread?” in this recipe testing post for some troubleshooting tips. Glad you enjoyed the cake anyway!
This recipe did not turn out well. Too heavy and greasy despite following directions exactly. Did not come cleanly out of the pan despite spraying generously with Pam baking spray. IMO recipe should be revamped for a lighter, not greasy cake: using less butter. Brown butter icing was very good.
if you dont like butter than why did you choose a cake with butter clearly in the recipe ???