Cinnamon Lovers' Cinnamon-Walnut Cake

This cinnamon roll-flavored cake is pretty easy+fast to whip together and smells (and tastes) fantastic! This was one of my first attempts making (any) frosted cake from scratch and it turned out great. After making cinnamon rolls/challah/cookies for my boyfriend (who has an unnatural affinity for the spice!), I thought, "why not cake?" Note: feel free to play around with the cinnamon/extract quantities-- I think I actually ended up putting a lot more than what I listed in the recipe, so adjust to taste. I included cinnamon extract as well as the spice, since it is stronger. I added a tiny bit of food coloring to it as well, to make it a very light brown/peach color.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 10
• Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients

• For the Cake

• 2 1⁄2 cups cake flour (no substitutes!)
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2-1  teaspoon salt
• 2⁄3-3⁄4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 2 -3  tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2  eggs (room temperature)
• 1 1⁄4 cups milk (room temperature)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more)
• 1 1⁄2-2 1⁄2 teaspoons  cinnamon extract
• 1⁄4 teaspoon clove (optional)

• For the Frosting

• 1 (16 ounce) container  buttercream frosting
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  cinnamon extract
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  maple extract (optional)
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 cup  toasted walnuts, crushed
•  salt (optional to taste(I like to do this if the frosting is cloyingly sweet)

• To Decorate

•  toasted walnuts
•  crushed  slivered almonds

Directions

1. Grease and flour 2 round cake pans.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl, set aside.
3. Cream together the softened butter and sugar until completely mixed. Slowly beat in the two eggs and yogurt. Add the spices and vanilla/cinnamon extracts. Stir well.
4. Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the flour, alternating with the milk. Whisk until smooth, there should be no lumps.
5. Pour into the prepared pans, and bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Set on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes or until completely cooled.Invert out of the pans.
7. Place one cake on a serving dish.
8. Stir the entire frosting container a few times, then mix in the cinnamon and cinnamon extract. In a different container, set aside enough frosting to fill between the cake layers (about 1/2 a cup, maybe?).
9. In the this filling layer container, stir in the maple extract and crushed walnuts. Spread this filling layer over the top of the first cake. Place the second cake on top of the first, and cover with the remainder of the frosting.
10. Optional: garnish with cinnamon and toasted walnuts, press the crushed almonds against the sides of the cake. Keep refrigerated.
11. Enjoy!