In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside for later

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8×2 inch round pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside

In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid).

Put approximately one cup of cake batter in each of the three 8 inch round pans.

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the batter and cover with the remaining batter.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.

Allow the cake layers to cool in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning them out.

Using a medium size sauce pan (deep enough to prevent boil over)  melt the butter over medium heat.  

Add the brown sugar and the remaining ingredients.

Stir to  blend, try to keep mixture off the sides of the pan. Once the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low.

Cover the pot and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, check the pot making sure it will not boil over. Remove from heat. After it cools a bit, pour into a heat proof bowl. It will look too thin but keep in mind that the caramel thickens as it cools. You can refrigerate to speed up the cooling process.

Makes 1 cup caramel.  It can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.

Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.

Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar and cinnamon beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.

Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.

This frosting will pipe best if used while still a bit chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.

Fill and frost the cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. I like to chill the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes after applying a thin crumb coat to firm things up. Then apply second coat of frosting and smooth to your liking (I use a bench scraper).

If adding a caramel drip, chill the frosted cake for 10-15 minutes before applying.

Add the cooled (but dripping consistency) caramel to a piping bag with the tip snipped away. You can practice applying the drip around the inside of the bowl to see if you are happy with the consistency. If it is too thick, warm slightly. (You can do this by placing a warm wet paper towel or dish towel beneath the bowl for a few minutes). If it is too thin, allow to cool a few minutes more.

Apply the drip around the top edge of the chilled cake. I then made a zigzag drizzle on top of the cake in the center. I did not take it all the way to the edge as I wanted to leave room for a border.

I applied my border using a large 1M piping tip, applying rosettes and shells. I also added a small bead border using a tip 4 around the bottom of the cake.