Tender & moist Caramel Spice Cake filled with fall spices, covered in cream cheese frosting, and drizzled with homemade caramel sauce!
Today is my birthday, so I had to make myself a birthday cake, and since it's still fall, I wanted to keep with an autumn theme and I went with a Caramel Spice Cake. This cake is filled with so many fall spices, covered in cream cheese frosting, and then topped with homemade caramel sauce. It's a doozy of a cake, especially if you love those autumn spices and love drizzling caramel sauce all over your cake.
When I was a kid, my sisters and I used to make Spice Cake all the time from a box and top it with store-bought cream cheese frosting. Those were the days when I didn't know how to bake. And honestly, I'd still eat that from-a-box spice cake, because it's darn good! So for my birthday, I wanted to recreate that, but from scratch, and this recipe is so good. The layers are moist and tender and filled with so much flavor!
What You Need to Make This Recipe
For the Spice Cake
- All purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Ginger
- Ground Nutmeg
- Ground Cloves
- Ground Allspice
- Brown Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Sour Cream
- Eggs
- Milk
For the Caramel Sauce
- Granulated Sugar
- Water
- Heavy Cream
- Unsalted Butter
- Salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Unsalted Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
How To Make Caramel Spice Cake
Steps to Make the Spice Cake
- In a bowl, sift flour, salt and baking soda, baking powder and all the spices and set aside
- In mixing bowl, sugar and oil and whisk until combined. Add sour cream and whisk until combined.
- Add eggs one at a time and whisk until completely combined.
- Add half the dry ingredients and mix, then add half the milk, and mix until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and milk and mix until just incorporated.
- Divide batter into prepared pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean
Steps to Make the Caramel Sauce
- Combine water & sugar: Stir sugar and water in a pot until combined, then
- Place on heat: Place the pot on medium heat, and let it dissolve. Leave the mixture and DO NOT stir, otherwise it will crystalize.
- To avoid crystallization: Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush away the sides of the pot to melt sugar crystals above the water line.
- Let sugar cook: it will start to bubble up and slowly change colors. This could take some time, but keep a watch on it because it could burn very fast once it starts to change
- Add heavy cream: Once it reaches desired color (an amber color is good. Any darker and it could become bitter), add the room temperature heavy cream, and whisk vigorously.
- Remove from heat & add butter: Once heavy cream is mixed in, add room temperature butter and the salt, and continue whisking until incorporated and melted into the caramel
Steps to Make Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could use a hand mixer), beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and light in color, about 5 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until completely combined
- Add salt and vanilla extract and then beat for at least 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
Tips for Making The Best Caramel Spice Cake
- Correctly measure your ingredients. If you’re not using a scale, fluff your flour before spooning and leveling so that you’re not over measuring.
- Don’t overmix your batter.
- Use room temperature ingredients where called for.
- Make the caramel sauce ahead so that it sets slightly before using.
- Use cold cream cheese for the frosting so that the end result is not too soft.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting, otherwise the frosting will start to melt and the assembly process will turn pretty messy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can This Spice Cake Be Made Ahead?
Absolutely. Make the ahead up to 2 days ahead and then frost when you need it.
Can This Spice Cake Be Frozen?
Definitely can be frozen. If you want to freeze before frosting, wrap each layer in saran wrap then place each layer in its own ziploc freezer bag and place in the freezer for several months at most.
If the cake is completely assembled, place the cake in the freezer unwrapped for at least 45 minutes to an hour so that it's completely chilled, then take it out and wrap it entirely in saran wrap. You can then either place it in a air-tight container or aluminum foil and place in the freezer.
What if I Don't Like Some of the Spices?
You can adjust the amount of spices to your liking, or leave a spice out if you know you won't like it in the cake.
Can I Add Nuts to the Cake?
Pecans or walnuts would taste delicious with this Caramel Spice cake, and I would highly recommend it.
If You Love This Recipe, Try These:
- Banana Caramel Cake
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Banana Cupcakes with Biscoff Cream Cheese Frosting
📖 Recipe Card
Caramel Spice Cake
Equipment
- 3 8 inch round pans
Ingredients
Spice Cake
- 2½ cups (300g) All Purpose Flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1¾ cup (350g) light brown sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup (180g) sour cream room temperature
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup milk
Caramel Sauce (This Will Make More than You need)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup heavy cream room temperature
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt optional
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ¾ cup (1½ stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- 12 oz block cream cheese cold
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease three 8-inch pans and line with parchment paper
- In a bowl, sift flour, salt and baking soda, baking powder and all the spices and set aside
- In mixing bowl, add sugar and oil and whisk until combined. Add sour cream and whisk until combined.
- Add eggs one at a time and whisk until completely combined.
- Add half the dry ingredients and mix, then add half the milk, and mix until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and milk and mix until just incorporated.
- Divide batter into prepared pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean
- Once baked, remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.
Caramel Sauce
- Stir sugar and water in a pot until combined, then place on high heat. Stir until sugar appears dissolved. Then, leave the mixture and do not stir, otherwise it could crystalize
- Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush away the sides of the pot to melt sugar crystals
- Let sugar cook – it will start to bubble up and slowly change colors. This could take some time, but keep a watch on it because it could burn very fast once it starts to change
- Once you reached desired color (an amber color is good. Any darker and it could become bitter), add the room temperature heavy cream, and whisk vigorously
- Add the room temperature butter, and continue whisking until incorporated and melted into the caramel
- Add salt (optional), and turn heat off
- Pour into jar or container and let cool
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could use a hand mixer), beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and light in color, about 5 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until completely combined
- Add salt and vanilla extract and then beat for at least 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Frost the cake as desired. There is enough frosting to cover the entire cake.
- Pour caramel sauce on top of decorated cake, and if desired, add between layers for more caramel flavor.
Notes
- See the full caramel post here
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