Moist, dense, and rich homemade spice cake is topped with a generous layer of tangy cream cheese frosting. Filled with comforting fall spices, this cake is perfect for cool fall days.
Chocolate? Who needs it. Spice is easily one of the best cake flavors around. It’s dense, moist, and flavorful enough that frosting isn’t even a requirement. I can’t even believe I’m saying this but when done right, super moist spice cake doesn’t need a swipe of frosting on top. Though that’s not really stopping you and I. Cream cheese frosting is always welcomed.
This spice cake is dense and rich. It has tight crumbs and a moist texture. More flavor in 1 bite than in an entire cupcake—we’re talking gingerbread-level flavor. It’s certainly one of my favorite fall cake recipes.
This Spice Cake Is:
- Dense like banana cake
- Cozy + comforting
- Perfectly spiced
- Soft + moist
- Easy to make
- Simple to transport—no layers!
- Topped with smooth + silky cream cheese frosting
- A great make ahead recipe (it’s even tastier on day 2)
Plus, you can see that I used this very batter as the starting point for my favorite apple cake. Such a great base recipe!
Spice Cake Ingredients
Spice cake requires very simple ingredients—nothing fancy, all items you likely have in your pantry already.
- Flour: All-purpose flour serves as the base. We use sturdy all-purpose flour instead of cake flour in this recipe because of the thick, wet batter.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda: These ingredients help the cake rise.
- Salt + Vanilla Extract: Both add flavor. Try using homemade vanilla extract!
- Fall Spices + Molasses: For mega spice flavor we use lots of cozy spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. I like to add 1 Tablespoon of molasses, but that’s completely optional. I loved its extra robust flavor inside the cake, but I did test the cake without it. Still wonderful.
- Oil: Oil guarantees a moist crumb.
- Brown Sugar: We use only brown sugar in this spice cake recipe because you know that’s where the best flavor lies. I prefer dark brown sugar for even deeper spice flavor.
- Applesauce: Applesauce adds flavor and moisture.
- Eggs: Eggs provide structure and moisture.
- Apple: 1 cup of shredded apple adds so much flavor and moisture—it’s what makes this spice cake truly the best I’ve ever tasted. You can also use shredded zucchini or carrot too.
Overview: How to Make Spice Cake
This is a very simply cake to prepare—it actually reminds me of pumpkin cake in terms of preparation, ease, taste, and texture. You don’t even need your mixer!
- Mix the dry ingredients.
- Mix the wet ingredients.
- Combine wet & dry ingredients.
- Pour into prepared 9×13 inch cake pan.
- Bake.
- Make cream cheese frosting.
- Chill. 30 minutes in the refrigerator makes cutting easier.
Cream Cheese Frosting
No frosting necessary as this spice cake is delicious on its own. But we all know tangy cream cheese frosting is spice cake’s favorite friend so let’s whip up a batch of silky cream cheese frosting and pile it on!
Mix it up and try brown butter cream cheese frosting used on banana layer cake or cinnamon cream cheese frosting used on banana cupcakes. You could even use traditional vanilla buttercream, white chocolate buttercream frosting, or garnish each slice with whipped cream. All options are equally yum! 🙂
Other Size Cakes
This spice cake is incredibly versatile—one of the many things I love about it! There’s enough batter for a layer cake, Bundt cake, or cupcakes.
- Layer Cake: I’ve made this as a two layer cake before. Use 2 9-inch cake pans and bake the layers for 30-34 minutes or until the centers are cooked through.
- Bundt Cake: This batter fits wonderfully into a Bundt pan. I’m unsure of the exact bake time, so use a toothpick to test for doneness.
- Cupcakes: This recipe makes about 24 standard size cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
More Spiced Recipes
- Banana Cake
- Carrot Cake
- Zucchini Cake
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Harvest Spice Bread
- Apple Cider Donuts (baked not fried)
- Hummingbird Cake and Hummingbird Bundt Cake
- Chai Spiced Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
- Apple Crumb Cake
Super Moist Spice Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Homemade and super moist spice cake with tangy cream cheese frosting. Such an easy recipe packed with TONS of flavor!
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
- 1 and 3/4 cup (350g) packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup (180g) unsweetened applesauce
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded apple (or shredded carrot/zucchini)
- optional: 1 Tablespoon (15ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar, plus an extra 1/4 cup if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13-inch pan. I always use this glass pan.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and other spices together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the oil, brown sugar, applesauce, eggs, vanilla extract, and molasses (if using) together in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Fold in the shredded apple until combined.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. After about 45 minutes, I usually place it in the refrigerator to speed things up.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add the extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar (I add it). Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. This helps sets the frosting and makes cutting easier.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 5. Cover the cake tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature, make the frosting, frost, and serve. Frosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature or serve cold.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Cooling Rack | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Layer Cake: I’ve made this as a two layer cake before. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake the layers for 30-34 minutes or until the centers are cooked through.
- Bundt Cake: This batter will fit into a Bundt pan. I’m unsure of the exact bake time, but use a toothpick to test for doneness.
- Cupcakes: This cake batter yields about 24 standard size cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Adapted from my favorite carrot cake recipe.
This recipe was super good. Took it to family gathering and nice and moist, delicious spices. Will make again
We loved this cake! My daughter asked for a spice cake for her birthday and this cake was the perfect choice. It hit all the right fall notes that she loves. Her son loved it as well. I will be making it again for sure. It’s just delicious with that wonderful frosting too.
I love your recipes, but this one was disappointing. I thought with applesauce, apple, oil, molasses, 4 eggs…it would have to be moist. It was okay, but it wasn’t great.
Hi Maureen, this is a very moist cake – if you found yours was dry, we’d love to help you troubleshoot. Is it possible that it was a bit over baked? Over baking (even by just a minute or two!) is often the culprit for dry cakes. And did you use the spoon and level method to measure your flour? We also share more tips on how to prevent dry and dense cakes in this blog post — hopefully some of these tips will be helpful if you give it another try.
This is the most soft cake i have ever made
I want to make this recipe for my music group, but we are all older and I don’t need a full-size cake. Can I make half this recipe in an 8×8 pan? I could actually make the whole recipe and divide it into two pans and freeze one. Would I need to change the temp and time of baking? Also, my name is Sally, too! ( :
Hi Sally, a 9×9 square pan would be best. It will rise quite tall in the 8×8 inch pan. Same temperature, but we’re unsure of the exact bake time so keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Tried this for the first time and it came out like a winner. Absolute triumph. Thanks Sally.
My mother made this exact recipe when I was young but she used a 7-Minute Frosting to top hers. Delicious!
Love the recipes!! Rating 1-5 is true . Thank you for saving me hours of work! Just click and cook
This is delicious!!!! I had leftover cream cheese frosting from cupcakes I made for a party and my hubbies has been craving spice cake. I made a couple changes because I didn’t have a couple items. I grated twice the amount needed of apples and cooked half with a little apple juice and made my own applesauce, I was out of molasses so I used dark Karo and only had a cup and a 1/4 brown sugar so i used white for the remainder with another tbl dark karo. I had 2 pineapple rings that needed to be used so I chopped them and put in there. It is wonderful! Your recipe is perfect, I just had to sub this time.
Great & quick recipe – even better the next day. The cream cheese frosting is so delish (especially if you like less sweet frostings – which we do!) The only mistake I made was using an apple I had on hand (Pippin) which wasn’t as flavourful as other apples so the apple taste didn’t come through enough. I will make it again and use a tastier, sharper apple. Overall another winner!!
This cake turned out great. I added the shredded apple and used a greased and floured Bundt pan. After cooling on a wire rack for 15 minutes, it released out of the pan perfectly. Cook time was 35 minutes in a gas oven. I also covered with foil after about 18 minutes as it was getting brown. Make husband refers to it as holiday cake. 🙂
What can I do about leaving the shredded apple out ? Can I just leave it out or do I need to replace it with something else. We are not fond of apples or carrots etc shredded into cakes, we don’t like the texture. The rest of the recipe sounds good, especially the addition of molasses
Hi Diana, you’ll lose a lot of moisture without the apple/carrot/zucchini, so we don’t recommend leaving it out. What you could do is shred and then chop the add-in you choose, which should help it to bake in more evenly without as much texture. Let us know if you give it a try! Otherwise, if you’re looking for a molasses-spiced cake, you might enjoy this gingerbread cake.
Should I just double the recipe for a half sheet pan size?
Hi Linda, here’s everything you need to know about cake pan sizes and conversions.
Several of the weight and volume measurements do not match. A cup of apple sauce weighs more than toy specify. 2.5 c flour weighs less. Vegetable oil and brown sugar also meaningfully off. I’m an experienced baker using a digital scale. Hoping I didn’t just waste a lot of ingredients.
Absolutely delicious!!
Oooh another successful sally recipe!! I added walnuts and raisins to it!
I made this cake, so very moist,flavorful and delicious! Glass pan 45 min,perfect.Frosting creamy and hmm so good…thanks for the recipe.
Do you think I could replace the applesauce in this recipe with highly spiced (cinnamon) apple butter. I bought it at a fair and no one in the family will eat it, hate to wasteHate to waste. Thanks for your help.
Love your recipes.
Hi PHO, apple butter is typically much sweeter than applesauce, so we don’t recommend that substitution. Best to stick with applesauce here!
This recipe is awesome! I did not have fresh apple so I omitted that, also didn’t have molasses so I added a tablespoon of salted caramel syrup.
Everyone ate it up fast and mom has requested it again for her upcoming birthday this month.
I used two 9” round pans and doubled the frosting recipe. I sifted my powder sugar for an extra smooth and creamy texture. It’s so wonderfully easy and delicious.
I followed the recipe to a T and the resulting cake is phenomenal! I used 9×13 pan and it took 45 minutes in electric oven, but I probably could have taken it out at the 40 minute mark. I used blackstrap molasses, avocado oil in lieu of vegetable oil and an Envy apple. I noticed that the cake tasted better after it sat in the fridge overnight. The spices seemed a little intense yesterday, but it tasted very well balanced today.
I am definitely making this again. I plan on replacing the apple sauce and grated apple with very ripe bananas. Delish!
Amazing flavour!! Super moist.
I know you can use zucchini in place of the grated apple, but is there something I could substitute for the applesauce? Due to allergies, I can’t use apple.
Hi Jean, pumpkin puree or mashed bananas would work well in place of the applesauce.
Hi Sally,
Your recipes are amazing! I am not great at following directions, but when I make your recipes, they always turn out wonderful. I increased by half, used half whole wheat flour and added a bunch of dried fruit soaked in rum and walnuts instead of the apple. Baked in a 10×15 glass pan for around 40 minutes. Skipped the frosting and served with frozen yogurt. So easy – this will be one of my go to recipes for holiday dessert!
Thank you!
May I ask why you can’t use blackstrap molasses in this? That’s what I have. I assume it’s just a personal preference. If this is the case perhaps you can mention that in the recipe instead of saying it as if it will ruin the recipe? Thanks so much!
Hi Laura Ann, blackstrap molasses has a deeper, darker flavor profile that we don’t usually prefer, but some bakers love it. You can certainly use it here if you would like.
Thank you for asking this question. I have a gallon of blackstrap that I bought during the lock down when I couldn’t find Grandma’s anywhere. I actually prefer the blackstrap over the lighter molasses.
I have made this several times now and we all love it. It is so so good. My next is in the oven and I think after it cools it’s going to the neighbors house. No I will cut it in half and send half of it to the neighbors 🙂 Can’t wait until it is ready, yummy
Sally!
Made this for my son in laws birthday. High altitude aside, shorter bake time, cool with low humidity, this worked like a dream. A stunning cake in flavor and appearance. I added sliced almods pushed into the frosting around the outside. I can always count on your kitchen to provide anothwr trusted recipe to share the love of baking.
We baked this cake in a bundt pan. It took 50-55 minutes and was delicious and moist (as always)
Baked 40 minutes and it was so dry!
Between concrete block and a ball of cotton followed the receipe to the letter! Would have been great if cooked 25 minutes!
Hi Jeff! Did you use a 9×13 pan? Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I had the same issue. Only baked for 35 minutes, in a 9×13 pan. Needs more apple, less eggs and butter instead of oil.