Old fashioned spice cake with cream cheese frosting is the stuff memories are made of. Sweet, tender cake redolent with warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves is swathed in a whip of tangy cream cheese frosting that’s rich and sensuously creamy. Sumptuous, smoky pecans add a salty contrast and crunch. One bite and you’ll know what this spice cake recipe is a favorite – it’s simply the best.
For this recipe you’ll need: cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ground chipotle pepper, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, Confectioner’s sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, heavy cream, pecans, smoked sesame oil, bacon grease, coarse sea salt
Spice cake. You know, there are fabulous spice cake recipes out there and terrible ones. Spice cake is admittedly not my favorite…it makes me think of the school lunch cafeteria in Jr. High school. Squares of stale boxed mix spice cake, with a decidedly artificial flavor and too sweet frosting….ick.
This cake is not that. It is to a boxed mix what Pavarotti is to singing in the shower.
The cake is spicy, full of the flavors of cinnamon (Vietnamese please), freshly ground nutmeg, citrus scented cardamom, spicy cloves and ginger…and all spice just in case we don’t have all the bases covered with the other spices.
Then a whipped (yes I did say whipped) cream cheese frosting and filling adds richness and almost too much sweetness. What to do? How about some smoked and salted pecans to round out the flavors and make your mouth happy.
Here’s another thing. You DO know that you can create your own cake mixes right? I mean if you need that time saving factor (raises hand…) you can mix the dry ingredients and keep them in a tightly covered mason jar in your pantry for a couple of months. Some rainy weekend afternoon? Just call the kids in and makes a bunch of cake mixes! You can use dry milk if you like to make it where you only need to add water but I prefer just to leave the dry milk out and use real milk. When you are ready to bake just cream the butter and eggs, add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk and vanilla (or other flavoring) and …Voila!
The texture will be a bit more coarse than a conventially mixed cake because the sugar isn’t creamed in with the butter but it will be a million times better than the boxed mix.
O.k…So …. on to the spice cake.
Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Smoked Pecans
Print Add to CollectionIngredients
- 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
- 11/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 -1/4 cups buttermilk
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 -3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons of heavy cream
Smoked Pecans
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon smoked sesame seed oil
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat
- Coarse Sea salt
Instructions
- Prehea the oven to 350F.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cayenne.
- Cream butter in the bowl.
- Add the brown sugar and sugar and whip until creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
- Beat in the vanilla.
- Whip on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 minutes or so.
- Scrape sides a few times during beating.
- While mixing on lowest speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the milk mixture.
- Pour batter into two greased and floured 8-inch cake pans.
- Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.
- Let cool in pans for 10 minutes.
- Turn out to finish cooling.
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the cream cheese and butter together.
- Add the flavoring.
- Whip until fluffy.
- Add the confectioners' sugar slowly until you reach the consistency that you like.
- Whip until very fluffy.
- Add cream as needed for consistency.
Smoked Pecans
- Saute the pecans in the combined oil and fat until toasted but not scorched.
- Sprinkle with about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
- Saute another minute or so to bind the salt to the pecans
- Let cool before sprinkling on the cake.
Assembly
Nutrition
Let's Keep in Touch!
Christie says
October 30, 2015 at 6:47 amI would love a slice of this cake. I especially love the smoked pecans.
Sabrina @ Dinner, then Dessert says
October 30, 2015 at 1:47 amMy mother-in-law loves spice cake! This would be perfect for her birthday!
Marye Audet says
October 30, 2015 at 11:52 amAbsolutely!
Nutmeg Nanny says
October 29, 2015 at 11:01 pmThis recipe looks so lovely! Love the idea of smoked pecans…yum!
Marye Audet says
October 30, 2015 at 11:51 amThank you!
Susan | LunaCafe says
October 29, 2015 at 10:04 pmYou’re killin’ me! I want a slice of this SO BADLY. 🙂
Marye Audet says
October 30, 2015 at 11:51 am🙂 Susan… it’s so good.
Laura says
October 29, 2015 at 7:06 pmI adore spice cake–and seem to have missed out on terrible cafeteria ones thank goodness! I am always torn between whipped cream and cream cheese frosting for the topping. This looks wonderful–I love the smoked and salted pecans on top!
Marye Audet says
October 29, 2015 at 9:36 pmLucky you! I do like the smoky pecans with the sweet frosting.. so good!
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats says
October 29, 2015 at 2:55 pmCream cheese frosting is pretty much the best in the world, add spice cake and nuts, and that’s my heaven!
Marye Audet says
October 29, 2015 at 9:35 pmI totally agree! I love cream cheese frosting.
Kacey @ The Cookie Writer says
October 29, 2015 at 1:38 pmThere is nothing about this cake I do not love! The addition of pecans is perfect and I know I would throw on extra 🙂
Marye Audet says
October 29, 2015 at 9:35 pmI’ll let you in on a secret… I do, too!
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
October 29, 2015 at 12:17 pmThis cake! Amazing! I love so many things about it: the cardamom & cayenne; the smoked pecans; the frosting… Oh, how I would enjoy two pieces right now! Love it!
Marye Audet says
October 29, 2015 at 9:35 pmIt’s one of my favorites. 🙂
Joana says
April 7, 2013 at 6:45 amHoly moley! Your blog is absolutely amazing!! I love the recipes you have put together in here, and the pictures are mouthwatering! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
Marye Audet says
April 8, 2013 at 9:26 amThank you! Glad to have you!
Sarah says
September 12, 2011 at 3:27 pmWhoa!!! You’d probably like this one I did a few years back then: http://yummysmells.blogspot.com/2009/03/wired-in-more-ways-than-one.html
Markie says
December 23, 2010 at 6:40 pmI love spice cake, but haven’t made one in years. After reading the recipe, I am sure it is delicious!