Cinnamon Tea Cake Recipe – Light, Tender, and Perfect with a Cup of Tea

By Callie

There are recipes that impress people and recipes that make people feel at home. This cinnamon tea cake is firmly in the second category, and I mean that as one of the highest compliments I can give a bake. It’s an Australian classic – the kind of cake that appears at morning teas and afternoon gatherings across the country, reliable and beloved in the way that only simple, honestly good things can be. The kind of cake that doesn’t need to be anything other than exactly what it is.

The first time I made this I was working from a recipe a colleague had written on a card for me – the handwritten kind where you can tell it came from somewhere real. The method is completely unfussy: cream butter and sugar, add eggs, fold in flour and milk alternately, bake in a round tin. Nothing surprising. But what happens right after it comes out of the oven is the part that sets this cake apart from every other simple round cake in existence: you brush the warm top generously with melted butter and immediately scatter cinnamon sugar over it while the butter is still glistening. The butter soaks into the warm surface, the cinnamon sugar forms a fragrant, slightly gritty crust that settles into the melted butter and sets as the cake cools.

That topping is everything. It’s the reason people ask for a second slice and then feel slightly embarrassed about it. It’s warm, fragrant, and that combination of soft buttery cake beneath and barely-there cinnamon-sugar crust on top is something that genuinely delivers more satisfaction than its simplicity suggests it should.

Emily calls this “the cinnamon cake” as if there’s only one, and she’s not entirely wrong. For the mornings when you want a quick, nostalgic bake that’s actually ready in about 45 minutes from start to finish, this is the one. For another beautiful spice-forward bake in the same spirit, the Finnish Cardamom Tea Cake is a wonderful companion recipe. But start here. This cinnamon tea cake is about as close to perfect in its category as a recipe can get.

Speed Hacks For Busy Bakers

• Pull the butter, eggs, and milk out of the fridge 30 minutes before you start – room temperature ingredients cream faster and produce a smoother batter
• Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl the night before and cover – saves 3 minutes of morning prep
• Mix the cinnamon sugar topping in a small bowl while the cake is in the oven so it’s ready the moment the cake comes out
• Line the cake pan before you start anything else so it’s ready when the batter is
• A one-bowl approach works for this recipe if you sift the dry ingredients directly into the creamed butter mixture – fewer dishes to wash

Why You Will Love This Cinnamon Tea Cake

• The warm cinnamon-sugar butter topping applied straight from the oven is the defining detail. This is not a cake with cinnamon in the batter and a sprinkle on top as an afterthought. The cinnamon-sugar is applied to the warm surface with melted butter immediately after baking, when the heat of the cake helps it soak in slightly and set into a fragrant, golden crust. This specific step – hot cake, melted butter, immediate cinnamon-sugar scatter – is what makes this recipe memorable rather than just pleasant.
• Genuinely ready in 45 minutes from start to finish. About 10 minutes of actual mixing, 30-35 minutes in the oven, 5 minutes for the topping. For something with this much warmth and satisfaction, the speed is remarkable. This is legitimately a cake you can decide to make at 9am and have on the table by 10am.
• One mixing bowl, minimal cleanup. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl, add eggs, alternate flour and milk additions in the same bowl. The dry ingredients come from a separate small bowl but everything else happens in one place. For a bake this simple and this good, the low cleanup effort feels like a genuine bonus.
• The texture is classic Australian tea cake – light, fine-crumbed, and moist. The balance of creamed butter, whole milk, and correctly proportioned leavening produces a cake that is genuinely light and tender without being delicate or fragile. It slices cleanly, holds its shape, and has that fine crumb that makes a good tea cake distinctive from a muffin or a quick bread.
• The cinnamon appears in two places for maximum impact. Ground cinnamon in the batter adds warmth throughout the cake from the inside. The cinnamon in the butter-soaked topping adds fragrance and texture from the outside. The combination gives this cake a rounded, present cinnamon flavor that’s immediately recognizable without being one-dimensional.
• Basic pantry ingredients, no specialty items required. Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, milk, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla. That’s genuinely the whole list. This is a recipe you can decide to make on a Tuesday without a shopping trip.
• Works beautifully for any occasion from casual snack to proper afternoon tea. Plain on a plate with coffee, or dusted with a little extra powdered sugar on a proper serving platter with cloth napkins and a pot of Earl Grey – this cake dresses up and dresses down with equal grace.
• Easy to adapt for dietary needs. Dairy-free, gluten-free, and egg-free versions all work cleanly with simple substitutions. I’ll cover all the options in the Variations section below.

Cinnamon Tea Cake Ingredients

Cake

• 1/2 cup (115g / 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar or caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk, room temperature

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 1 tablespoon (20g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ingredient Notes And Substitutions

Caster sugar vs. granulated sugar: The original Australian version uses caster sugar, which is a more finely ground granulated sugar that dissolves more readily into creamed butter and produces a marginally finer-textured crumb. Standard American granulated sugar works perfectly in this recipe – the difference in the finished cake is minimal for most home bakers and not worth a special trip to the store. If you want to approximate caster sugar from granulated, pulse granulated sugar in a food processor for about 30 seconds. The texture will be close enough to make no discernible difference in this recipe.

Room temperature everything – worth the wait: Room temperature butter creams with sugar to create the air network that makes this cake light. Cold butter doesn’t cream – it just chunks. Room temperature eggs incorporate smoothly without causing the creamed butter to curdle. Room temperature milk combines with the batter without causing the fat to seize. Pull everything out of the fridge together 30 minutes before you start. This small habit produces noticeably smoother batter and more consistent results than working with cold ingredients.

The cinnamon – use fresh, fragrant ground cinnamon: Cinnamon appears twice in this recipe – in the batter and in the topping – so its quality matters more than in a recipe where it’s a background spice. Open your cinnamon jar before you start and smell it. Fresh, potent cinnamon smells warm, sweet, and almost spicy. Cinnamon that’s been in the pantry for more than a year often smells faint and slightly dusty. If yours doesn’t smell strongly fragrant, it’s worth replacing before making this cake – the cinnamon flavor is the entire point.

Ceylon vs. Cassia cinnamon: Most grocery store cinnamon is Cassia cinnamon – bold, slightly sharp, the flavor most people picture when they think of cinnamon baked goods. Ceylon cinnamon (sometimes sold as “true cinnamon”) is softer, more floral, and less intense – it’s the variety used in much of European baking and has a more delicate flavor. Either works in this recipe. Cassia gives a more pronounced, assertive cinnamon flavor. Ceylon gives a more subtle, nuanced one. Both are genuinely delicious in a cinnamon tea cake – use whichever you have or prefer.

Whole milk for the richest result: This is not a recipe where milk is just liquid added for moisture – the fat content of whole milk contributes to the crumb richness and the tender texture of the finished cake. Reduced-fat milk produces a slightly less rich, slightly drier result. Plant-based milks work as substitutes – oat milk is the closest in richness and fat content to whole dairy milk and produces a very similar result. Almond milk is lower in fat and the cake will be very slightly less rich, though still delicious.

The topping butter – melted, not browned: The tablespoon of melted butter brushed over the warm cake doesn’t need any special treatment – simply melt it until liquid and brush immediately over the cake while both are warm. Some recipes brown the butter before applying, which adds a nuttier note and is genuinely delicious, but the classic version uses plain melted butter and that simplicity is part of what makes it so satisfying. Apply it generously and immediately, then scatter the cinnamon sugar before the butter has any time to cool on the cake surface.

Callie’s Kitchen Note: The one instruction in this recipe that most people underread is “brush with melted butter while still warm.” Not slightly warm. Not cooled and then warmed in the microwave. Directly from the oven, turned out of the pan, immediate brush of butter, immediate scatter of cinnamon sugar. The whole point of the topping is that it adheres to the warm, slightly porous surface of the just-baked cake and soaks in slightly rather than sitting on top. I waited too long once – about 15 minutes while the cake cooled more than it should have – and the butter pooled on the surface rather than soaking in and the cinnamon sugar sat on top of it rather than settling into the buttery crust. The result was fine but distinctly different from the proper version. Warm cake, immediate topping, every time.

How To Make The Cinnamon Tea Cake

1- Prep The Pan And Preheat

Preheat your oven to 350F (180C) – or 320F (160C) if using a fan-forced convection oven, which runs hotter than standard and can over-brown the edges before the center sets. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with butter or non-stick spray and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Grease the parchment as well. An 8-inch round produces a cake of ideal height for this recipe – thick enough to have a good layer-to-topping ratio but not so deep that the edges dry out before the center cooks through.

2- Cream The Butter And Sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the room-temperature butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is pale, increased in volume, and genuinely fluffy. This is the most important step in the recipe. The extended creaming time incorporates air into the butter-sugar mixture that expands during baking and creates the light, fine crumb that makes this cake so tender. Do not shortcut this step to 1-2 minutes – 3-4 minutes produces noticeably more airy, lighter results. The mixture should look almost white and feel very light when you scrape the bowl.

3- Add The Eggs

Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, beating briefly after each addition – about 20-30 seconds per egg. The batter may look slightly lumpy or curdled after adding the eggs, particularly if the eggs were even slightly cooler than the creamed butter. Don’t panic – this is common and the batter will smooth out completely when the flour is added. If the curdling is severe, add a tablespoon of flour from your measured amount and beat briefly – the starch helps re-emulsify the mixture. Add the vanilla extract if you haven’t already and mix briefly to incorporate.

Why Alternating Flour And Milk Produces A Better Batter

The alternating addition of flour and milk – rather than adding all the flour, then all the milk – is a technique that produces a more stable, evenly emulsified batter. Adding all the dry ingredients at once followed by all the liquid creates a batter that has to work harder to incorporate everything smoothly, often resulting in a slightly less even crumb. The alternating method keeps the fat and liquid in balance throughout the mixing process and produces a smooth, consistent batter without overmixing. Begin and end with flour additions to keep the batter properly structured at both ends of the mixing process.

4- Alternate Flour And Milk

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a separate small bowl until the cinnamon is evenly distributed through the flour – this prevents concentrated pockets of spice in the batter.

5- Bake

Pour the batter into the prepared 8-inch pan and smooth the top level. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes. Start checking at 30 minutes – insert a toothpick or cake skewer into the very center of the cake and it should come out completely clean or with just one or two dry crumbs. The top should be golden and the edges will have just begun to pull away from the sides of the pan. Don’t overbake – this is a relatively lean cake and it goes from perfectly moist to slightly dry faster than a more richly enriched cake would. Pull it out at the first sign of doneness.

6- The Topping (Do Not Delay)

While the cake is in the oven, mix the tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together in a small bowl and melt the butter separately. Have both ready before the cake comes out of the oven. The moment the cake comes out and is turned out of the pan onto a wire rack – immediately, without waiting – brush the entire top surface generously with the melted butter. You want the butter to soak slightly into the still-hot surface rather than sitting on top as the cake cools. Immediately scatter the cinnamon sugar evenly over the buttered surface while the butter is still liquid. The warmth of the cake sets the topping in about 5-10 minutes as it cools to a beautiful, slightly glistening cinnamon-sugar crust.

Serve warm for the absolute best experience – the topping is at its most fragrant and the cake at its most tender when eaten within 30 minutes of baking. It’s also excellent at room temperature and toasted the next day, but warm from the oven with the topping freshly set is when this cake is in its finest form.

Callie’s Kitchen Note: I’ve started doubling the cinnamon sugar topping – 2 tablespoons of butter instead of one, and double the cinnamon sugar mixture – ever since a friend who had the cake three times in a row told me the topping was her favorite part and she wished there was more of it. She wasn’t wrong. The doubled topping creates a more visible, more fragrant, more generous cinnamon crust that makes the cake look more impressive and taste noticeably better. The original single layer is what the recipe calls for; the doubled version is what I actually make. Try it both ways and decide for yourself, but I suspect you’ll end up where I did.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

Under-Creaming The Butter And Sugar

Stopping the creaming step at the 1-2 minute mark because the butter and sugar look combined is the most common cause of a denser, less light cinnamon tea cake than the recipe is capable of producing. True creaming – the kind that produces the air network responsible for the light, fine crumb – takes 3-4 minutes and produces a mixture that’s visibly pale, almost white, and significantly increased in volume compared to where it started. Time it rather than going by appearance alone. The difference between a 2-minute cream and a 4-minute cream in the finished cake is significant and consistently reproducible.

Using Cold Ingredients

. All three ingredients need to be at genuine room temperature before you start. The 30-minute counter time recommended in the ingredient notes is the minimum. If you’re in a warmer kitchen, 20 minutes may be enough. If you forgot to pull things out, put the butter in a slightly warm bowl and leave the eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 5 minutes as an emergency measure.

Overmixing After The Flour Goes In

The most delicate phase of this batter is the moment after the last flour addition is in. The air structure built by the extended creaming step begins to deflate with every mix stroke after the flour is fully incorporated. Stop mixing the moment the batter is smooth and no dry streaks are visible – then stop completely. Put down the mixer. Spatula it into the pan. Resist the urge to give it “just one more mix to make sure.” The texture of the baked cake is determined largely by what happens in this final minute of mixing.

Letting The Cake Cool Before Applying The Topping

Covered in detail in the Kitchen Note above, but worth repeating: the topping must go on immediately when the cake comes out of the oven. The warm, slightly open-pored surface of a just-baked cake absorbs the melted butter and allows the cinnamon sugar to settle into it rather than sitting separately on the surface. A cooled cake has a firmer, more closed surface that resists absorption and produces a topping that feels more like a separate coating than an integrated crust. Everything about the topping – the fragrance, the texture, the way it bonds to the cake – depends on applying it while the cake is hot.

Using A Pan That Is Too Large Or Too Small

An 8-inch round pan is specifically the right size for this quantity of batter. A larger pan produces a thinner cake that bakes faster, dries out more easily, and has an unfavorable ratio of topping to cake depth. A smaller pan produces a cake that’s too thick in the center and may be underbaked there while the edges are perfectly done. If an 8-inch round isn’t available, a 9-inch round works as a substitute – expect a slightly thinner cake and check for doneness at 25-28 minutes rather than 30-35.

Callie’s Kitchen Note: The fan-forced versus standard oven distinction in this recipe matters more than in most cakes I make. My oven at home is fan-forced and the first time I made this cinnamon tea cake I used 350F without switching to the lower fan-forced temperature of 320F. The edges browned significantly faster than the center and by the time the center was done the edge crust had developed a noticeably drier, crisper texture than the delicate crumb the rest of the cake had. Dropping to 320F on fan-forced produced the even, golden, consistently tender result the recipe is built for. If you’re not sure whether your oven has a fan, it does if there’s a heating element visible at the back of the oven cavity rather than just at the bottom. Check your oven‘s manual if you’re genuinely unsure – it makes a real difference in this recipe.

Storage

Room temperature: Store the cinnamon tea cake covered loosely or in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The cinnamon-sugar topping stays best uncovered for the first few hours after baking – covering it while still warm can cause condensation to soften the crust. Once the topping is fully set and the cake is completely cool, covering it prevents the crumb from drying out. The cake is genuinely best on Day 1 – the topping is most vibrant and the crumb most tender – but still very good on Day 2.

Refrigerator: The cake keeps well refrigerated for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before serving for the best texture and flavor – cold butter-based cakes are noticeably denser and the cinnamon fragrance is more muted at refrigerator temperature. A 10-second microwave warm-up restores the warmth and the cinnamon fragrance beautifully.

Freezer: Cut into individual slices, wrap each slice tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about an hour. A quick 10-second microwave warm-up after thawing restores the soft, tender texture. The cinnamon-sugar topping survives freezing and thawing well – it doesn’t become sticky or weep as some sugar toppings do.

Make-ahead notes: This cake is at its absolute best the day it’s made, particularly in the first hour after baking when the warm topping and tender crumb are at their peak. For entertaining, bake fresh the morning of the event rather than the day before if the schedule allows. If you need to bake the day before, store carefully at room temperature and warm individual slices briefly in the microwave before serving – 10 seconds brings back a lot of the just-baked quality.

Cinnamon Tea Cake Variations

Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake

Fold 1 cup of finely diced peeled apple into the finished batter before pouring into the pan. Granny Smith gives the most tart, defined apple flavor. Fuji or Honeycrisp give a sweeter, more mellow note. The apple pieces become soft and tender during baking and distribute through the crumb as little pockets of fruit flavor that make each bite more interesting and more moist. Double the cinnamon in both the batter and the topping to make the apple-cinnamon combination more assertive. This is my most frequently requested variation in autumn when apples are at their best.

Cinnamon Brown Butter Tea Cake

Brown the butter before creaming it – cook it in a light-colored pan over medium heat, swirling regularly, until the milk solids turn golden brown and the butter smells deeply nutty and caramel-like. Pour into a bowl and cool until it firms back to a spreadable consistency (about 30 minutes in the fridge), then cream as normal. The brown butter adds a rich, almost toffee-like depth to the cake that pairs beautifully with the cinnamon and makes the finished cake taste significantly more complex than the ingredient list suggests. Also brown the tablespoon of topping butter for a double brown butter effect.

Cinnamon Swirl Tea Cake

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Mix 2 tablespoons of brown sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and scatter it evenly over the batter layer. Pour the remaining batter on top and use a toothpick or thin knife to make 4-5 figure-eight passes through the layers to create a marbled cinnamon swirl through the interior. The cross-section of each slice reveals the swirl and the concentrated cinnamon-sugar layer adds pockets of warm, sweet spice throughout the crumb in addition to the butter-cinnamon topping. This is the version that makes people cut into the cake slowly to reveal the full swirl before breaking it open.

Orange And Cinnamon Tea Cake

Add the zest of one large orange to the butter and sugar before creaming – work the zest into the sugar first by rubbing them together between your fingers to release the essential oils. Replace 2 tablespoons of the milk with freshly squeezed orange juice. Add a thin orange glaze (powdered sugar and orange juice) in place of the butter-cinnamon topping, or layer both – orange glaze first, then cinnamon sugar on top while the glaze is still tacky. The orange and cinnamon combination is warm, citrusy, and deeply appealing in a way that feels a little more special than the classic version while using the same simple method.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Tea Cake

Fold 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips into the finished batter before pouring into the pan. The chocolate chips melt slightly during baking and create small pools of bitter-sweet chocolate throughout the cinnamon crumb. Keep the cinnamon-sugar butter topping but add a light drizzle of melted dark chocolate over the set topping for a finished look that’s more dramatic than the classic version. This is the variation that wins over anyone who thinks “cinnamon tea cake” sounds too subtle and not chocolatey enough – the combination is genuinely outstanding.

Gluten-Free Version

Swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose baking blend in the same quantity. The creaming method in this recipe provides enough structure through the air incorporated into the butter that the gluten-free version holds together well and has a very close crumb to the original. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes in the pan before baking – the hydration rest improves the texture of gluten-free cakes noticeably. The cinnamon-sugar topping is naturally gluten-free and requires no adjustment.

Dairy-Free Version

Replace the dairy butter with a solid vegan butter such as Miyoko’s or Earth Balance Buttery Sticks – solid vegan butter creams with sugar in the same way as dairy butter and produces a very similar texture. Replace the whole milk with full-fat oat milk or full-fat coconut milk (the kind from a can, not the refrigerated carton) for the richest result. For the topping, vegan butter melted and applied the same way works perfectly. The dairy-free version of this cake is genuinely delicious and very close to the original in flavor and texture.

Serving Suggestions

This cinnamon tea cake belongs at any table where tea or coffee is being poured.

The Classic Morning Tea Presentation

Serve the cake whole on a round plate or wooden board dusted with a little extra cinnamon sugar, with a small sieve nearby for a final powdered sugar dusting at the table if people want it. Cut it in front of your guests – the slightly golden top giving way to the pale, fine-crumbed interior is a beautiful moment. Set out salted butter in a dish alongside for anyone who wants to add more butter to their slice, which is a level of indulgence I fully support. Pour the tea or coffee while the slices are being passed.

Dressed Up For Afternoon Tea

Serve slices on small dessert plates with a dollop of softly whipped cream alongside and a few fresh raspberries or strawberries scattered on the plate. A thin drizzle of honey over each slice elevates it without hiding what the cake actually is. On a tiered cake stand alongside other small bakes – scones, tea sandwiches, almond tea cakes – a slice of cinnamon tea cake holds its own beautifully and contributes that warm spice note that anchors a spread of sweeter items.

Occasion Ideas

• Australian-style morning tea where this cake is a genuine tradition – make it for any gathering and explain the cinnamon-sugar topping tradition when you serve it
• Weekend family breakfast when you want something warm and homemade that doesn’t require a long morning in the kitchen
• Afternoon visits from friends or neighbors where something homemade and genuinely good needs to appear quickly
• Work-from-home midmorning treat with a proper cup of tea away from the desk
• Baby shower and bridal shower spread where small, elegant slices are needed
• Any occasion where you want to make someone feel at home rather than impressed – this cake does that job better than almost anything else I make

Beverage Pairings

Earl Grey is the pairing I reach for most often – the bergamot floral note of Earl Grey plays against the warm cinnamon in a way that feels almost designed. English Breakfast or any strong black tea with a little milk is the classic Australian morning tea pairing. For coffee drinkers, a flat white or cappuccino alongside a slice of cinnamon tea cake is genuinely excellent – the milk-forward espresso and the buttery, warmly spiced cake are natural companions. Spiced apple cider warm from the pot on a cool autumn afternoon alongside a slice of this cake is one of my favorite seasonal combinations.

Cinnamon Tea Cake FAQ

Recipes You May Like

If you loved this cinnamon tea cake, here are three more warmly spiced, satisfying bakes from the blog that belong in your regular rotation.

Anytime Almond Tea Cakes – The closest cousin to this cinnamon version in the blog’s tea cake collection. Same spirit – simple, buttery, fragrant, perfectly matched with a cup of tea – but built around almond extract and ground almonds rather than cinnamon. If the cinnamon tea cake is your go-to warm spice bake, the almond tea cakes are the floral, nutty counterpart that deserves equal rotation time. Both ready in under 45 minutes.

Old-Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes – Another beloved tea cake tradition, this time from the American South. Softer, slightly flatter, more cookie-like than this round cake – vanilla and nutmeg scented, eaten in quantity with no apology. The comparison between the Australian cinnamon tea cake and the Southern tea cake is genuinely interesting: two completely different baking traditions, two completely different formats, the same idea. Something simple, homemade, and honest. Perfect with tea.

Easy Carrot Cake Recipe – When you want a step up from the tea cake format into a proper occasion cake but still in the warm, spiced, simple category, this carrot cake delivers. Moist, warmly spiced, deeply satisfying, with cream cheese frosting that makes it feel genuinely special. The spice profile overlaps with this cinnamon tea cake – cinnamon forward, warm, comforting – and the method is similarly approachable. A natural next bake for anyone who loves the flavor world of this tea cake.

Conclusion

This cinnamon tea cake is the recipe I reach for when I want to make someone feel at home rather than make them feel impressed. There is a difference, and both matter, but there are days when what a person really needs is a warm slice of something simple and genuinely good with a cup of tea – not a showstopper, not a project, just something made with care from ingredients that have always been in the pantry.

The cinnamon-sugar topping is, I think, the thing that makes this cake quietly special rather than just pleasant. It’s such a small detail – a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of sugar, a half teaspoon of cinnamon – and it creates such a specific, fragrant, satisfying eating experience that feels out of proportion to the effort. Emily takes the first slice every time and I take the edge piece with the slightly darker cinnamon crust and we eat them standing over the cooling rack, still warm, and it’s one of the better parts of any given week that this happens.

It is unfailingly the right choice for all of those situations and more. Tell me in the comments whether you doubled the topping (I strongly recommend it), what tea you served it with, and whether anyone in your household managed to wait until it was fully cooled before taking a slice. Save this to Pinterest – this is exactly the kind of recipe that should find its way into as many kitchens as possible.

Happy baking! – Callie