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What’s better than a churro? A churro CAKE of course. Especially when it’s topped with my favorite local xurros from 180pdx (if you’re a Portlander or ever come to visit, this spot is a must). Creating a churro cake has been on my list of ideas for a long time, and I’m so proud to bring you the result of my kitchen experimentation. Behold!
No matter what event or time of year, this cake is a true crowd pleaser. Not only is it pretty to look at, it’s bursting with flavor. The cake is cinnamon vanilla as well as the buttercream, and the real kick comes from the Mexican chocolate ganache. It’s spiced with a little cinnamon and cayenne to give your tastebuds a little spice burst after the sweetness of the chocolate.
This recipe makes enough for a triple-layer 6 or 8 inch cake. Dress it up with your favorite local churros or homemade churro recipe (I still have yet to try making them from scratch, but when I do I’ll be sure to let you know!), or get creative with the presentation and let the flavors speak for themselves.
However you decide to decorate, I can promise you this: it will be absolutely delicious. I know this because I brought it to work one day and it was gone before lunch – the whole crew at my day job ate it for breakfast! Now that’s a sign of a frickin’ good cake.
Churro Cake Recipe
A light and fluffy churro-inspired cake with cinnamon-vanilla buttercream and spicy chocolate ganache
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Prep Time:35 minutes mins
Cook Time:40 minutes mins
Total Time:2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Ingredients
Churro Cake
- 2 3/4 Cups (290g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 Cups (358g) granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 Cups (300ml) whole milk, room temperature
Mexican Chocolate Ganache
- 1 Cup (185g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 Cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- pinch of salt
Garnish
- 3 small churros
Instructions
Make The Churro Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray and placing a wax paper circle in the bottom of each pan.
Whisk together sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Cream butter on med-high for one minute. Add sugar and beat on med-high for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl and paddle as needed.
Turn the mixer down to low and add the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
Add all of the dry ingredients at once with the mixer on low speed until just combined, then add the milk all at once with the mixer still on low. Scrape down the bowl and paddle and mix on low until it all just comes together, about 30 seconds. You might need to hand whisk at the end to get rid of some lumps, but be careful not to overmix.
Fill prepared cake pans no more than ⅔ full and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Make The Mexican Chocolate Ganache
Place chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl and set aside.
Whisk together heavy whipping cream, cinnamon, and cayenne in a saucepan over medium-high heat until small bubbles start to form (aka right before it starts boiling).
Pour over chocolate chips and let sit for 30 seconds before whisking together until the ganache is uniform in consistency. You’ll need to let this cool on the counter to room temp before filling or dripping the cake.
Make The Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream
In a large bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Cream butter on med-high until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), scraping down bowl and paddle a few times in between.
Add powdered sugar/cinnamon mixture a few cups at a time, scraping down bowl and paddle between intervals. Mix on medium until fully incorporated.
Turn mixer to low and add vanilla and milk. Mix on medium for two minutes.Scrape down bowl and paddle and add salt. Mix for another minute on medium until incorporated.
Assembly
Torte each cake layer to desired height. Pipe a circle of buttercream around the top edge of the first layer (to make a buttercream dam) and fill with half Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream, half (room temperature) Mexican Chocolate Ganache.
Place the next cake layer on top and repeat step one, then add the final cake layer on top.
Crumb coat the cake with Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream, then ice with a final layer of buttercream.
Place the cake in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to chill the buttercream before dripping with room temperature Mexican Chocolate Ganache.
Top with your favorite local churros or topper of your choice. In this design I’ve also piped a few open stars with buttercream using Wilton tip 4B.
Notes
The cake layers can be made ahead, wrapped and stored at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can wrap and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
The ganache can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. To bring back to dripping consistency, heat in the microwave for 15 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until room temperature.
The buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Bring back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add milk, one tsp at a time, if buttercream is too thick.
Did you make this cake? Let me know by tagging me on Instagram! You might get a shoutout 🙂
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Reader Interactions
Comments
evette saysi want to make this cake into cake pops. instead of using candy melts to cover the pops, can i use the chocolate ganache? will the ganache harden like chocolate candy melts?
Reply
- Whitney says
Hi Evette! I think I answered this question already on Instagram but I would use melted chocolate as opposed to chocolate ganache. Melted chocolate will harden like candy melts, while ganache will set up more soft.
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- Sally B. says
Hi, I’m in the middle of making this recipe. Currently working on the buttercream. I’m following the grams measurements for more accurate results. Well, I just wanted to let ya know that the grams for the butter (buttercream) is not correct. I noticed this when I was mixing in the powdered sugar. It was way too thick. Anyway, I’m trying to fix this by starting over. I’ll let ya know how this turns out.
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- Whitney says
Hi Sally! The butter and powdered sugar mixture is intended to be super thick, it will thin out beautifully when you add the liquids (vanilla and milk). I hope it worked out for you in the end!
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- Alexandra P. says
Hi Whitney. This cake looks delicious. I can’t wait to try it out! I do have a question. Is the buttercream considered an American buttercream?
- Whitney says
Hi Alexandra! Yes – this one is an American buttercream.
Reply
- Jazmine says
I want to make this for Mother’s Day but do cupcakes instead! (Easier to distribute) do you have any tips? I’m thinking of maybe eliminating the chocolate ganache only because I’m not sure where I would put it on the cupcakes although it sounds so delicious.
Reply
- Whitney says
Hi Jazmine! This recipe is amazing in cupcake form! Just be sure to fill the cupcake tins no more than 2/3 full and bake at 350 for about 17 min. For the ganache, you can either leave it out completely, fill the cupcakes with it, or drizzle it over the frosting. Excited for you to make these!
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- Jazmine says
Just finished making them and OMG delicious!! Pretty sure I overmixed the batter because they kind of crumbled but still amazing! And I filled them with ganache like you suggested. Thank you!!!
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- Whitney says
So happy the cupcake versions turned out well!
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- April Avery says
Hello, quick question can the cake flour be substituted for all purpose flour? I would like to make cupcakes for my daughters birthday in October using this recipe.
Reply
- Whitney says
Hi April! The cake flour is what makes this cake extra fluffy, and if you sub with straight all-purpose flour it will be more dense. Instead, I recommend making this DIY version of cake flour that uses all purpose: https://sugarandsparrow.com/homemade-cake-flour
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- Carol says
Wow!So good did it today,love it!!
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- Whitney says
Yay, Carol! So happy you love this recipe!
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- Alejandro Ortega says
What do you mean by cake flour?
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- Whitney says
Hi Alejandro! Cake flour is a type of flour made specifically to create a fluffy texture. If you google “cake flour” you’ll be able to see some brands to look for at your grocery store and learn a bit more about it. If all you have on hand is all-purpose flour, I do have a recipe for homemade cake flour that you can use here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/homemade-cake-flour-recipe/
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- Elida Juarez says
hello! did you make the churros yourself? if so, do you have a recipe?
Reply
- Whitney says
Hi Elida! I didn’t make the churros myself. I got them from a local churro restaurant here in Portland! I wish I had a recipe to pass on to you.
Reply
- Tonya says
I’m having a little trouble with my cake layers staying put with the chocolate ganache. Does that mean I put too much ganache in the layers? Or was I supposed to refrigerate between layers to help it set a bit? I appreciate all of your help.
Reply
- Whitney says
Hi Tonya! It usually means you either overfilled the layers with the ganache or didn’t build a tall enough buttercream “dam” for the ganache. You don’t need to refrigerate the cake between building layers. The “Soft Fillings” section of this blog post details how to fill your cake to ensure the ganache doesn’t leak out from between layers: https://sugarandsparrow.com/fill-and-stack-cake-layers/ Another thing you can do is to make the buttercream dam for the cake, fill halfway with the ganache then fill the top half with cinnamon-churro buttercream. The layers should stay put even more with that order of filling.
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- Tonya says
That video was very helpful. I think I made my ganache a little too thin and added too much of it to the layers. The cake was still a hit even though it was a little wonky looking. Thankfully my family just focuses on eating it and doesn’t pay attention to all of my rookie mistakes. I appreciate your help.
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- Virginia says
I was Wondering how well the frosting g would dye Pink or any other colors?
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- Whitney says
Hi Virginia! Since there are cinnamon flecks in the buttercream, you’ll still be able to see those flecks even if you dye the frosting pink. It might be more muted too because of the cinnamon flecks. If you’re okay with that then I’d say go for it! The frosting should tint easily with color gel.
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