Not long after my husband and I began dating he was about to celebrate a birthday. I asked him what kind of cake he would like and you know what, he had to think about it! I learned he didn’t really celebrate birthdays the way I am accustomed to celebrating. Then, he chose this one, a real spice cake. It took something to find the right recipe and I never did, because no one adds enough spices. Don’t be stingy on your spices when it’s a spice cake. Those spices need to be having a dance party on your tongue! The decoration of the cake even has endless possibilities. I’ve done candied orange rinds, toasted pecans, browned butter frosting, layer cakes, and for this printing I did it as a bundt cake. We enjoy this cake so much we asked my aunt to make it for us when we got married, yep it was our wedding cake, too.
Tools: measuring cups, measuring spoons, stand mixer with mixing bowl, medium bowl, whisk, spatula, bundt pan
Prep: grease your bundt pan thoroughly with crisco and then put your pan in the fridge. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Fit your mixer with the paddle attachment.
Dry Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 T cinnamon
1/2 T ginger
1/2 T nutmeg
1 t allspice
1/2 t ground cloves
Wet Ingredients:
1 3/4 C packed dark brown sugar
3/4 C vegetable oil
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 C buttermilk
Whisk all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
In your mixer bowl add your sugar, oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Mix on setting 3 for 2 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Set to speed 1 then add 1/2 the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients alternating with 1/2 the buttermilk mixing fully between each addition, scraping down the sides as needed.
Remove your bundt pan from the fridge. Pour the cake batter in your bundt pan and place it on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake 40-45 minutes.
Let cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack then loosen the sides with a butter knife and turn upside down releasing the cake.
Cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/4 C softened butter
1 t vanilla
4 C powdered sugar
1/4 C heavy cream (milk works too, you’ll need less)
In your mixer add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and cream and mix on low until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and mix on low until smooth and spreadable. If it’s too thick add more cream a splash at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
Frost your Bundt cake and decorate with toasted pecans or candied oranges or let your imagination decide, you can even leave it plain. Cut a big slice and enjoy!
