Spice Bundt Cake
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This spice bundt cake is comforting and cozy with the perfect spice cake flavor. It’s made with brown sugar, vanilla and warm spices, and is incredibly moist. Top with a drizzle of maple icing for an easy fall cake recipe.
This spice bundt cake is the perfect cozy cake recipe. It’s a delicious spice cake made in a bundt pan and topped with maple icing. The cake itself is super moist with an almost springy texture with zero dry cake crumbs. The flavor comes from using brown sugar, a healthy dose of vanilla and the perfect combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. I love the addition of maple icing on top because it really takes this cake to the next level.
I love this bundt cake for fall, especially if you’re looking for a recipe that doesn’t feature pumpkin.
For the Spice Cake
The spice cake recipe is extremely simple. The moist comes from using oil, eggs, sour cream and applesauce. This combo keeps the cake moist for days, and means that there’s no need to wait around for your butter to soften. The applesauce adds moisture and sweetness, but it’s not enough to make the cake taste of apples.
For the batter, you’ll first sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices) and give them a whisk. Then in a separate large bowl, you’ll whisk together the oil, sugar, applesauce, vanilla and eggs (you could also use an electric mixer for this). About 1/2 of the dry ingredients are whisked into the wet ingredients, followed by the sour cream. Then the last 1/2 of the dry ingredients are whisked into the batter.
The cake will bake for about 50 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. If you’re unsure if the cake is done baking, I’d leave it for an extra few minutes – because this cake is incredibly moist, it’s unlikely to dry out.
For the Maple Icing
The maple icing on top is the perfect complement to the warm spices of the cake. You’ll melt together butter and maple syrup, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar along with a touch of salt. The icing is drizzled/poured over the top of the cake. Be sure to work quickly, as the icing will start to harden if it sits for too long.
It’s imperative to use real maple syrup and not maple flavored syrup for the icing – maple flavored syrup doesn’t have the necessary flavor and texture for the icing to turn out.
More Fall Favorites to Try:
- Spice Cake Doughnuts – these are baked instead of fried
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
- Maple Cookies with Maple Icing
Spice Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 12-cup bundt pan
Ingredients
Spice Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup vegetable oil (240 ml), or canola oil
- 2 cups light brown sugar (420 grams), or 1 cup dark brown sugar and 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce (180 ml)
- 1 cup sour cream (240 ml), room temperature
Maple Icing
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (56 grams), cut into cubes
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup (90 ml)
- 1½-2 cups powdered sugar (168-220 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
Instructions
Spice Cake Bundt Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Whisk together until evenly combined. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs and apple sauce. Keep whisking until there are no lumps of sugar and you don't see any pieces of egg that are separate. You could also use an electric mixer for this step.
- Whisk about ½ of the flour mixture into the oil mixture until there are no lumps.
- Then whisk the sour cream into the flour mixture. Do this by hand.
- Lastly, whisk the final ½ of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Do not over mix. Stop mixing as soon as you no longer see streaks or lumps of flour.
- Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease and lightly dust with flour. Even if your pan is non-stick, you still need to grease the pan. Make sure that all the creases and crevices are greased. Pour/spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes, or until the cake is starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool the cake in the pan for at least 25 minutes, then very carefully invert the cake and let it slide out of the pan.
Maple Icing
- Add the butter and maple syrup to a saucepan over low heat. Melt together while gently stirring or swirling the pan a few times.
- Remove from the heat. Add in the salt, then whisk in the sifted powdered sugar until you get the sweetness you like. The icing should be thin enough to drizzle.
- Moving quickly, carefully pour the icing over the cake. You will need to do this while the icing is warm, otherwise it will start to harden. Optionally, sprinkle the top with chopped nuts.
Notes
- Apple Sauce: This recipe was developed using unsweetened apple sauce. If using sweetened apple sauce, I’d reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup.
- Maple Syrup: Use real maple syrup, not maple flavored syrup.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only, based on 1 slice with icing assuming that all the icing is used and the cake is sliced into 12 uniform pieces.
