Spice Cake Recipe with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Spice up your fall dessert game with this Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting!

This moist, flavorful cake is fairly bursting with warm spices and topped with a creamy, dreamy maple cream cheese frosting that will have everyone asking for seconds (and thirds!). It's the perfect dessert for cozy family meals, game day get-togethers, holidays, or just when you need a little extra goodness in your life.

Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.

🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite

• Moist and tender cake that's made from scratch - so easy!
• I love this in the afternoon with a cup of coffee on those first, chilly days of fall.
• Cake flour is used in this vintage recipe to keep the cake light and fluffy.

Old-fashioned spice cake recipe is covered in a rich, maple cream cheese buttercream for a traditional cake that's irresistible. Buttermilk makes the cake layers light and tender while a splash of whiskey adds a unique, smoky flavor that will have your guests begging for the instructions.

This crowd-pleaser is loaded with the warm, comforting flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and paired perfectly with a luscious maple cream cheese frosting. Ideal for any fall or winter celebration, from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

📖 Make it your own: yummy variations

This is one of my favorite cake recipes as is but you can use any of these variations and it will be just as yummy!

1. Save a trip: You can use all-purpose flour if you don't have cake flour. It's not as light and fluffy but it will work.
2. Make it nutty: Add up to a cup of chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts to the batter.
3. Make it fruity: Or, add a cup of raisins.
4. Make it classic: Swap the maple cream cheese frosting for a classic cream cheese frosting.
5. Remove the booze: Use ginger beer, gingerale, or apple juice in place of the whiskey.

🔪 Step-by-step guide: instructions for success

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to see it full size.

Mix flour and spices.

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs.

Mix in flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk and whiskey.

Pour cake batter into prepared pan and bake.

🍴Must have tools: essential equipment

1. cake pans - either one 13x9-inch pan or two 9-inch round pans
2. stand mixer or hand mixer
3. rubber spatula
4. mixing cups and spoons

🥫 Leftover love: how to store spice cake

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let slices come to room temperature before serving for the best flavor.

This cake also freezes well for up to 3 months. I like to cut it into serving sizes and keep it in individual freezer containers to toss into a school lunch as a special treat.

💭 Insider tips: things to know

• Room temperature ingredients: Ensure your butter, eggs, and other dairy ingredients are at room temperature before you start baking. This helps everything mix together smoothly, resulting in a tender and even-textured cake.
• Use fresh spices: The key to a flavorful spice cake is using fresh, high-quality spices. Ground spices can lose their potency over time, so check your pantry and replace any that have been sitting around for a while. Fresh cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger will make a big difference in the depth of flavor.
• Don’t overmix: When combining the wet and dry ingredients, mix just until everything is incorporated. Overmixing can lead to a dense, tough cake, which you definitely want to avoid.
• Chill out: Leave out the cayenne if you prefer a less spicy spice cake.
• Big flavor: Always buy the whole nutmegs and grate with a grater if possible. The flavor is so much better.
• Buttermilk for moisture: Buttermilk adds a subtle tang and keeps the cake incredibly moist. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make a quick substitute by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of milk and letting it sit for a few minutes. Or try one of these other make your own buttermilk possibilities!
• Use the right pan: Grease and flour your cake pans well to ensure the cake releases easily after baking. You can also line the bottoms with parchment paper to help it slip right out.
• Cool completely before frosting: Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack before frosting it. A warm cake will melt the frosting, making it difficult to achieve a smooth finish.
• Let it rest: Most spice cakes are better the second day because the spices get a chance to mellow.

These tips will help you bake a homemade spice cake that’s bursting with flavor, perfectly moist, and sure to impress!

👩‍🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs

Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!

📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love

🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose spice cake with maple frosting

Leftover cake? Crumble it up and layer it with vanilla pudding and whipped cream for a quick trifle dessert. Or, make it into cute cake pops!

📞 Wrapping it up: the last word

Spice cake is one of those flavors that says autumn to me.

I don't like most recipes for it because they lack something I am looking for — an intensity of flavor, a combination of cinnamon and cloves and creamy frosting. It has to be moist and be able to stand up to a good, strong cup of coffee or tea, and it has to pass the ultimate test: Would Badger put it on his tea table? (See the note from Marye below the recipe card).

The answer for this recipe is a resounding yes. Maple, spices, heat, and velvety whisky all churn together into a mixture that is suitable for any rainy, blustery day you want to lounge around in front of the fire.

It's great for summer days, too but don't tell anyone..

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

4.58 from 19 votes

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Moist homemade spice cake flavored with whiskey and autumn spices is topped with a decadent maple cream cheese frosting. Perfect for holidays or cozy family dinners, this dessert is a true crowd-pleaser!

Course Dessert - Cake

Cuisine American - Vintage

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings:12

Calories:483

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
• ▢ 11/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ginger
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup buttermilk
• ▢ ¼ cup whiskey

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 8 oz cream cheese, , room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, , room temperature
• ▢ 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, real maple syrup makes all the difference - I like the darker ones.
• ▢ 1 teaspoon maple extract
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 -3 cups confectioners' sugar, (powdered sugar)
• ▢ 1 tablespoons heavy cream, , may need a little more

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9-inch pan or two 9-inch round pans.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cayenne together in a large bowl - set aside.
• Cream butter and both sugars together until light and creamy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
• Beat in the vanilla.
• Whip on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 minutes or so.
• Scrape sides a few times during beating.
• Pour the buttermilk and whiskey in a cup.
• While mixing on lowest speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture.
• Pour batter into the prepared cake pan(s).
• Bake at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Interior of cake will read 205℉ to 210℉ measured with an instant-read thermometer when done.
• Let cool in pans for 10 minutes.
• Turn out to finish cooling. You may leave the sheet cake right in the pan if desired.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• Beat the cream cheese and butter together until well mixed and creamy.
• Add the flavorings and the syrup.
• Whip until fluffy.
• Add the confectioners' sugar slowly until you reach the consistency that you like.
• Whip until very fluffy.
• Add cream as needed for consistency.
• This amount of cream cheese icing is enough to fill and frost 2 layers OR provide an extra thick layer on the sheet cake. You may want to cut the frosting recipe in half for the sheet cake unless you LOVE frosting like I do.

Notes

Storage:

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let slices come to room temperature before serving for the best flavor.

This cake also freezes well for up to 3 months.

Tips:

• Substitute: No whiskey? Substitute ginger beer, ginger ale, or apple juice.
• Room temperature ingredients: Ensure your butter, eggs, and other dairy ingredients are at room temperature before you start baking. This helps everything mix together smoothly, resulting in a tender and even-textured cake.
• Use fresh spices: The key to a flavorful spice cake is using fresh, high-quality spices. Ground spices can lose their potency over time, so check your pantry and replace any that have been sitting around for a while. Fresh cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger will make a big difference in the depth of flavor.
• Don’t overmix: When combining the wet and dry ingredients, mix just until everything is incorporated. Overmixing can lead to a dense, tough cake, which you definitely want to avoid.
• Chill out: Leave out the cayenne if you prefer a less spicy spice cake.
• Cool completely before frosting: Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack before frosting it. A warm cake will melt the frosting, making it difficult to achieve a smooth finish.
• Let it rest: Most spice cakes are better the second day because the spices get a chance to mellow.

You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 483kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 384mg | Potassium: 301mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 828IU | Vitamin C: 0.05mg | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

First published October 9, 2013. Last updated August 21, 2024 for better images, to switch the instructions to show a sheet cake, and more helpful information.

✍🏻 A note from Marye...

I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.

Autumn and winter are my favorite times of the year. I like the chilly mornings, the golden sunlight, and the colors that look like they have been carefully brushed on the trees. I love the scent and sound of a crackling fire, and the flavors of the comfort foods so often found on our tables this time of year.

So many children's books have the kind of food descriptions that keep me coming back to them. Farmer Boy, The Hobbit, Narnia, and one of my very favorites for its food descriptions — Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. The following paragraph is an example...

“When the girl returned, some hours later, she carried a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cozy parlor firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender, of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries.”

That is autumn. Right there in that paragraph autumn exists for me every time I read it.

Maybe autumn is so linked with food in our minds because of the harvest and the upcoming winter months — maybe it is entrenched in our DNA so deeply because of years of living within the confines of the present season.

Who knows?

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