This spice cake is so incredibly moist, and packed with that ‘cozy’ spice flavour! Topped with a tangy cream cheese buttercream frosting, you’ll be coming back for seconds (and maybe even thirds)!
What is a spice cake?
A spice cake is very similar to a carrot or pumpkin spice cake, minus the carrots or pumpkins!
It’s a super moist, slightly dense cake packed with spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Some variations (like mine) also have applesauce mixed in, which adds an additional depth of flavour to the cake.
What makes this spice cake so soft?
There are a few key ingredients which make this cake SO SOFT!
- This recipe uses a cake flour substitute (a mixture of all purpose flour and cornstarch – cake flour is actually banned here in New Zealand which is why I can’t just use regular cake flour!). Cake flour has a lower protein content than regular flour, which results in a more tender crumb. By replacing some of the regular flour with cornstarch, it helps to reduce the protein content of the flour and mimic cake flour.
- Secondly, this recipe uses oil instead of butter. Because there is ample flavour coming through from the other ingredients (spices and applesauce), I decided to go without the butter. Oil is liquid at room temperature, resulting in a cake that stays moist for days!
- Applesauce is another ingredient I decided to add in. Many spice cake recipes don’t use applesauce, but I found that adding it in added great flavour and made for a softer cake.
- Lastly, this recipe uses Greek yoghurt to lighten the batter, add flavour, and help leaven the cake by activating the baking soda. I first used sour cream instead of Greek yoghurt, but found that the high fat content in sour cream resulted in a cake that was a little too dense for my liking.
Another factor is the mixing method. This recipe uses the ‘muffin method’ of mixing cake batter, where you combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then add the wet to the dry and gently fold them together. By hand mixing the batter and not overmixing it, you’re going to prevent too much gluten from forming (which is great for things like bread, but we don’t want TOO MUCH gluten in a cake!).
How spiced is this cake?
I’d say this recipe is in the middle, so more than what you would consider to be ‘lightly spiced’, but not overwhelmingly spiced either. You can always add more or less spice depending on your own taste preference.
Can I make my own applesauce?
If you can’t easily find applesauce in your local area, you can easily make your own! Applesauce is basically an apple puree, and the type we want for this recipe is unsweetened and unflavoured.
All you have to do is peel and core some apples, and place them in a pot with a little bit of water. About a third of the apples should be covered with water – you just want enough to create some steam. Then bring the water to a boil, and then turn down the heat and cover and leave to cook for about 15-20 minutes until the apples are soft.
Once soft, strain most of the water out, and then puree the apples. You’re then left with applesauce 🙂
How to make this spice cake
This cake is SO EASY to put together, and uses the ‘muffin method’ of making cake batter.
Begin by preheating your oven to 160°C fan forced, and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins. I like to grease my cake tins with my homemade cake release.
For the cake batter, start off by sifting together your dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg). By premixing your dry ingredients, it helps ensure that everything is mixed well, preventing you from overmixing the batter when it comes to combining your wet and dry ingredients.
Set your dry ingredients aside and in another bowl combine your wet ingredients (soft brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, Greek yoghurt and vanilla). Mix until well combined.
Now pour your wet ingredients into your premixed dry ingredients, and gently fold them together using a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix the batter.
It’s important to do this step by hand as this will prevent us from overmixing our batter and developing too much gluten.
Once the batter is done, evenly distribute it into the two 8 inch cake tins and cook for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to completely cool before frosting. I love using my cream cheese buttercream recipe for this cake!
How to decorate your spice cake
Here’s a quick run through on how I decorated my cake! I went for a super simple ‘rustic’ look.
Because my cake layers had a slight dome on the top, I began by trimming the tops with a serrated knife so that I had nice flat cake layers.
To decorate the cake I placed my first cake layer on my cake stand and placed a generous amount of frosting on top. I then used an offset spatula to neatly spread out the frosting.
I then placed my next cake layer on top, flipping it over so that the bottom of the cake was the top of my layer cake (so that we have a nice flat top).
I then placed a generous amount of frosting on my top layer and again used my offset spatula to neatly spread it out. I then finished off by placing some walnuts and pecans in a circle around the top edge of the cake.
And that is it! A beautiful, delicious spice cake ready to eat 🙂
Moist Spice Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Spice Cake
- 2¼ cups (270 g) flour - regular, all purpose (see note 1 if you want to use cake flour)
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornstarch - also known as cornflour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2½ tsp cinnamon - ground (see note 4 about this cakes 'spice' level)
- 1¾ tsp ginger - ground, powdered
- ½ tsp cloves - ground
- ½ tsp nutmeg - ground
- 1½ cups (300 g) soft brown sugar - firmly packed (see note 2)
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- 1 cup (240 g) unsweetened applesauce - or apple puree
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- ½ cup (125 g) Greek yoghurt - room temperature, full-fat
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 batch of my cream cheese buttercream frosting recipe - see note 5
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 6 if you don't have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl combine your soft brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, vanilla and Greek yoghurt. Mix until well combined.
- Pour your wet ingredients into your premixed dry ingredients and gently fold together with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix the batter (see note 3).
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow them to cool in the cake tins for about 15 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with my cream cheese buttercream frosting.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
38 Comments
I have always used your cake receipes- thank you
Can i use allspice
Can I bake the cake at 350 degrees instead of 347 degrees? 45-50 minutes?
Made this just before Christmas for a family birthday and it is HEAVEN. Honestly loved it so much, flavour and texture both stunning. Huge win. Will definitely make again because I miss it already!
Aww yay! So glad you loved the recipe Jessica 😀
Really appreciate the wonderful feedback 🙂
What can I use instead of applesauce?
Hi Emily! 🙂
I haven’t tried an applesauce substitute myself so I’m not too sure sorry! Sometimes yoghurt or banana can be used, but there is already yoghurt in this recipe and banana will change the flavor profile of the cake. So sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
Can I omit the cornflour and just use all purpose flour for a larger crumb? Would this make the cake more dense?
Hi Brittanie! 🙂
You can substitute the cornstarch with all-purpose flour (I wouldn’t recommend omitting it completely otherwise there may not be enough dry ingredients in the batter), the cake will just be a little less soft but I don’t think it would be too dense – just be careful not to overmix the batter at the end 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
Can I use gluten free flour
Hi Chris! 🙂 I haven’t tried using gluten free flour for this recipe myself, but other readers have used gluten free flour that’s meant to act as a 1:1 substitute with regular flour for my recipes (like Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour) and it seems to have worked well so may be worth a try! Would love to hear how it goes if you decide to try it out 🙂
I made blue cupcakes with chocolate frosting to announce to my in laws. They loved the idea. they had to peel the paper off to reveal the color.
Such a cool idea! Congratulations on your baby boy Brett 😀
Love this recipe!!
This is the third cake I’ve made from this website. Third success, masha’Allah! This cake is amazing.
If it’s helps others, I made it in a Bundt pan. It just takes a little longer to bake. And I didn’t have applesauce, so I grated two apples and just cooked until soft. You couldn’t see them in the cake.
Jazak’Allahu-khair for sharing this recipe. Another for my collection. Look forward to try others. I’m going to look like a cake soon…😂.. lol
So so happy to hear you loved the recipe Farhana, and that the apple substitute worked great! 😀 And haha I feel you, I’ve been eating a little too much cake myself recently!
I’m a small hobby baker who enjoys trying new recipes. Your spice cake recipe was divine, a hit with my friends. I paired it with apple pie filling and everyone buried their faces in it 😂. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Keep up the awesome tutorials you deserve more followers.
So so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Leeanne! 😀 I’ll have to try the apple pie filling next time – it sounds incredible!!