Easy Spice Cake Recipe
There’s a reason why my family calls this Easy Spice Cake Recipe “magic cake”! This easy cake recipe is like a gift made of brown sugar and spices. And when I say spices, I mean it! You’ll love how bold this spicy cake is!! Not only that, this pretty bundt spice cake will make your house smell incredible! It’s perfect for a fall family brunch, tea/coffee time or to end a special holiday meal.
Why I love this Easy Spice Cake recipe
Oi Gente!!
This bolo de especiarias spice cake has been at the top of my family’s holiday baking recipes for forever now.
Whether we make it for a family brunch, or serve it as dessert for special occasions, this homemade spice cake never disappoints.
I love it because this cake is perfectly moist and fluffy. It perfumes the whole house with the best seasonal spice smells in the world.
Also, it’s super easy to make.
This moist spice cake is seriously a gift our family and close friends call “magic cake.”
Everyone loves it so much, I can sometimes even use it as currency.
Every time I ask my best friend Angela and her husband for a favor, they say, “Sure, just make us a magic cake and we’re even!”
They love to enjoy this cake topped with brigadeiro, Brazilian chocolate ganache. (It’s just like the one I use on my Nega Maluca cake.)
I prefer this cake all by itself, dusted with just a little powdered sugar. And any leftovers are great toasted with a little salted butter on top.
This cake is also great when paired with a cup of coffee or bourbon… or both! Even a nice cocktail like this Smoked Old fashioned for a nicer dessert option (don’t forget a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top!)
So many delicious ways to enjoy – it really is magic!
I hope you see, smell and taste all the magic in this delicious cake for yourself.
Bom Apetite!
Beijinhos!! xoxo
Spice Cake Ingredients
- Large Eggs — the fresher the better.
- Vanilla extract — please use the pure stuff. It costs more, but it helps all these ingredients sing.
- Brown sugar — you may use light brown or dark brown sugar here. Do not sub the brown sugar with all white sugar – the molasses in the brown sugar plays a role in the final product by adding color, texture and also flavor to our cake.
- Granulated sugar — also known as white sugar. And yes, we are creating a blend of brown and white sugars here. The white granulated sugar will pack more sweetness and will help create an almost crispy outer layer to the cake.
- All purpose flour — I have not tried this cake with a gluten free blend or another flour, so please keep that in mind.
- Baking powder — make sure yours is fresh!
- Milk — whole milk is the best in this recipe. We are using a lot of sugar and the fat from the milk will help ensure the cake is velvety and balanced.
- Corn oil — or another neutral oil, like vegetable oil or canola oil.
What spices are in spice cake?
- Ground cinnamon
- Ginger powder
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground cloves
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Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
How to make spice cake
Prep the Pan and Oven:
Preheat the oven. Anytime you’re baking a cake you’ll want to start by preheating your oven, so that by the time you’re done making the cake batter, the oven is nice and hot and ready to bake.
Prep the pan. You need to have the pan greased and floured before the batter is ready, so that your cake batter doesn’t sit there a few extra minutes with active baking powder, waiting for you to get the pan set up.
Make the Batter:
Combine the wet ingredients. Measure the oil and the milk, combine them and set aside.
Combine the dry ingredients: Add the flour, salt, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to a big bowl. Whisk everything to combine and set aside.
Mix the sugars and eggs. In another bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla extract, the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix with a hand mixer until smooth.
Incorporate dry and wet ingredients into the egg-sugar mixture in an alternating manner.
Always start and end with the dry ingredients, alternating with two parts of liquid in between.
In other words, start off by adding about a third of the dry mixture to the egg mixture, and mix to combine.
Then, add half of the liquid, and mix.
Repeat until everything has been incorporated.
Bake. Pour the batter into your prepared bundt cake pan and bake in the preheated oven until it’s done.
The bake will take about 35-40 mins, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out lightly crumbly to clean.
At this point your house should be smelling like pure magic!!!
Flip the cake onto a wire cooling rack, and let it cool completely before slicing.
Sprinkle a little powder sugar on top after the cake is cool, and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
No, you should not. A bundt pan that holds at least 10 cups (and allows at least 2″ for the batter to rise) is a must. The batter is loose and it won’t bake properly or rise any other way… and has potential for being a hot mess. People on Pinterest tell me they have successfully used mini muffin pans… Minis can work well, but be aware the cake will collapse in the middle if you use a regular cake pan. I linked to the specific bundt pan I use above.
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days at room temperature. Slice as needed.
This spiced cake is great after:
- Creamy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
- Roasted Acorn Squash Salad
- Ham with Pineapple Sauce
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto Recipe
Other easy bundt cake recipes:
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Easy Spice Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 whole eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp ginger powder
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup of corn oil
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Grease and flour a 9inch bundt cake pan
- Add all of the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, and all the spices) to a large bowl, whisk to combine and set aside
- In another smaller bowl, combine the oil and the milk, and set aside
- In another large bowl, combine the eggs, the vanilla extract, and the sugars. Mix using a hand mixer on medium to high speed, until frothy and elastic
- Then, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients mixture to the eggs mixture, and mix on low to medium to combine. Add half of the liquid ingredients, and mix on low to medium to combine. Add the second third of the dry ingredients, and mix on low to medium to combine. Add the last of the liquid, and mix on low to medium to combine. Add the last third of the dry ingredients, and mix on low to medium to combine.
- Pour the batter into the greased bundt pan, and bake bake until a cake tester/toothpick inserted to the middle comes out lightly crumbly to clean (about 35-40 mins)
- Move the cake pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for about 10 mins, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on the rack
- When the cake is completely cool, dust it with a little powder sugar if you'd like, and trasfer to serving plate
Magic cake because it is so so so delicious that magic happens in your body when you eat it! Hands down my favorite cake of all times. I do love it with brigadeiro on top but this cake is amazing just by itself. Love love love love it!
Ooooo!!! Once again a perfect recipe. It’s so tender and delicious!!
Awww!! Thank you, Marta 🙂 you’re too sweet! This cake IS very tender and moist!
This spice cake is absolutely divine. I love that you suggest having it with bourbon, too – We love our bourbon here in Kentucky and this was indeed the perfect pair.
Thank you, Brittany! Yes, the Bourbon lovers in your life will definitely dig this cake! The spices go stunningly well with it xx
I loved this spice cake with a hot cup of coffee! So delicious!!
Thanks, Tamara! It really is delicious! xx
I love baking and this is the perfect recipe for the Fall!!
So true! It’s perfect for the season!! 🙂
I love the idea of eating leftover slices served with bourbon!
haha this is a popular idea around here LOL!!! It’s so delicious!!
The only thing that could have made me more convinced of how good this is, is if you made it for me and saved the time!
hahaha!!! You’re too funny!! I swear you can make it JUST as delicious I would make it for you, and in no time!!
I love all the cozy spices in this cake. And it looks beautiful too!
Thank you! And yes, this cake is a beauty in the eye and in the mouth ahahaha
Can this recipe be used to make cupcakes
Hey there, Yolanda! Great question – I haven’t personally tried baking this cake as cupcakes, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know if you try it and how it goes!
Hello.. your recipe was the bomb … I used ginger root instead of the powder but it was still wonderful… I had the cake with black tea and it was wonderful 😍😍😍
Yes!!!! Thanks for letting me know, Jessica!! So happy you loved it!! xx
Are there any alternatives to corn oil?
Hi there! Yes, you can use canola, or vegetable oil.
I made this Thursday and shared it with my son and daughter-in-law. We ALL loved it! Perfect – not too sweet, just right! They shared it with her mom, who asked for the recipe, and yesterday made 2 to give to family/friends! I made another one today! In less than a week this is our new family fav! Thanks for sharing!
Aww, Kathy!! What a sweet message, thank you!!! I’m so very happy to know your family loved and has now adopted this cake as your new family fave!! WOOHOO!!
I’m making this cake as I type😄 I didn’t have corn oil, so I’m using canola. We’ll see how it turns out.
Haha!! Yes! It’ll work just fine! Enjoy the cake 🙂
We loved this cake with coffee and bourbon!! It was so good!!!
Made this cake for Halloween and my family LOVED it. So light and yummy. It’ll be one we serve often. I think we prefer cakes that are light and not drenched is sweet frosting. This cake is perfect for us!
That makes me so happy, Nikki!! This cake is a total hit and I’m so excited you and your family loved it too!! Thank you for sharing!
The highlight of my weekend! This cake is wonderful, I used to have it when I was little but lost the recipe ages ago – so glad you shared yours!
Yay!! That makes me so happy, Tatiana! Thanks!
So easy, and tasty too. I’m going to make it again for Thanksgiving…it will be the perfect afternoon snack with a cup of tea….while we sit around and play games by the fireplace.
Ahhh that sounds perfect, Debra! So happy you liked the recipe – thanks!!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. That cake was so yummy.
this spice cake just tastes like fall! i had some girlfriends over and we devoured it. delicious!
I love the warming aromatic spices. This cake also has a lovely crumb. I especially enjoyed it a la mode.
This is the best spice cake recipe ever! The spices add a really nice flavor and it’s so moist.
This Spice Cake was such a great Holiday dessert! This recipe was so moist and fluffy!
I love this recipe! I’m wondering if it could be turned into a Marble cake by omitting the spices and adding some cocoa into some of the batter? Has anyone tried variations of this?
Hi, Steph, I sure haven’t tried any variations of this batter, but there’s enough sugar in here to maybe make it worth trying…? Let us know what you find out!! xx
This cake smells and tastes like fall. My whole family LOVED it!
As soon as August rolled around, I knew I wanted to kick off my Fall baking (even though it’s 90 degrees outside haha)! This spiced brown sugar cake did not disappoint! Such wonderful flavor! And so moist. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
We loved the cake! Was great for dessert with a fruit compote and whipped cream — and the leftovers perfect for a lazy weekend “brunch”
This and coffee omg! Perfect combination! thanks for sharing!
Hello,
can you omit the granulated sugar – it seems like too much sugar. Can you substitute with agave or honey? What about greek yoghurt instead of milk? I’m trying to do a healthy option.
Thanks
Hi Disjacs – I wouldn’t recommend any of these substitutions. The batter is very loose already, so adding a liquid sweetener, like honey or agave, not only would change the flavor but would also impact the structure of the cake entirely.
has anyone tried adding chocolate chips (regular or mini)? Wondering if they will stick to the bottom or distribute evenly in the cake?
Hi Steph – I haven’t personally tried, but I think it would not work on this batter, because, this is a more liquid cake batter and I’m pretty sure the chocolate chips would sink in it.