By Yossy Arefi
Published Nov. 19, 2024
- Total Time
- About 1½ hours
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ cooling
- Rating
- 5(37)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This cozy spice cake is a one-bowl wonder. Made with oil, the cake stays moist for days and has a soft and fluffy texture. It is generously spiced with the usual warm-spice suspects: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, plus a little bit of peppery allspice. If you stock cardamom in your pantry, it wouldn’t be out of place either. The cake is delicious on its own, with just a dusting of powdered sugar on top, but cream cheese frosting is a classic topper that offsets the spiced cake wonderfully and looks great too.
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Ingredients
Yield:12 to 16 servings
- ¾cup/180 milliliters vegetable or canola oil, plus more for the pan
- 1½lightly packed cups/300 grams light brown sugar
- 3large eggs
- 1½cups/360 milliliters buttermilk
- 4teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1tablespoon ground ginger
- ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼teaspoon ground cloves
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 2½cups/320 grams all-purpose flour
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan and line it with a piece of parchment paper that hangs over the two long sides.
Step
2
In a large bowl, whisk to thoroughly combine the oil, brown sugar, eggs, buttermilk, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt.
Step
3
Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda and whisk until smooth. A few small lumps are OK.
Step
4
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it in an even layer. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes before using the parchment paper to lift it out and set on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Step
5
While the cake cools, make the frosting.
Step
6
Top the completely cooled cake with swoops and swirls of frosting and serve immediately, or cover and store at room temperature for 2 days (or a little longer in the fridge).
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Ratings
5
out of 5
37
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Marie
Perfect spice cake! Quick and easy, great texture. A half recipe fits well in an 8X8 pan. I had some salted caramel buttercream in the freezer so I topped it with that, but cream cheese frosting would also be delicious.
Remi
I baked it in a glass dish and it turned out great.
Marie
For a half recipe, one whole egg plus a yolk works well. (Can use the extra egg white for something else or freeze for later.)
Max
@Patti Travaglio 1.5 egg
Susan Pesznecker
Weigh three eggs and then remove enough to cut weight to half.
Brian
My mother used to make a cake exactly like this recipe, but she would add apples. Could I just add a diced apple (maybe dusted with flour)? Or do you think adjustments to the recipe would be needed?
Brian
@Patti TravaglioTry 2 medium eggs.
Lindsay
Works great with a mix of 50/50 almond flour and Bob's 1:1 to make it GF
BHK
If you added banana, how would that change the other ingredients? I've been dreaming of my mother's Banana Spice Cake for 60 years now...
Heather
Has anyone tried with gluten-free flour? We have a guest with Celiac’s so curious if this could work well.
Light, fluffy, spicy
The texture of the cake is phenomenal - light, moist, and fluffy. I substituted the cream cheese frosting with a simple cinnamon glaze (confectioners sugar, cream, cinnamon) and I liked the lightness as opposed to a heavy frosting (and the extra cinnamon made for extra spice). This will definitely be a regular recipe for me!
Kelly
Would this work as cupcakes?
Susan
Would a glass baking dish work, or does it have to be metal?
Remi
I baked it in a glass dish and it turned out great.
Brian
My mother used to make a cake exactly like this recipe, but she would add apples. Could I just add a diced apple (maybe dusted with flour)? Or do you think adjustments to the recipe would be needed?
Janet B
I want to make this with the addition of apple too. Would love to see a reply to this question.
Patti Travaglio
Would love to try 1/2 recipe but how to divide 3 eggs ?Help
Max
@Patti Travaglio 1.5 egg
Brian
@Patti TravaglioTry 2 medium eggs.
Susan Pesznecker
Weigh three eggs and then remove enough to cut weight to half.
Marie
Perfect spice cake! Quick and easy, great texture. A half recipe fits well in an 8X8 pan. I had some salted caramel buttercream in the freezer so I topped it with that, but cream cheese frosting would also be delicious.
Remi
When halving this recipe did you use 1 or 2 eggs?
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