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Spice Cake is the coziest cake there is, a soft, moist crumb packed with cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, and a whole pantry of warm spices, and this layered version is the one I make whenever the house needs to smell like a holiday. It is frosted with a dreamy eggnog buttercream and crowned with sparkly sugared cranberries. It looks bakery fancy but bakes up from simple from scratch ingredients. If you love a cozy bake, our lemon blueberry coffee cake is another easy favorite.
The molasses keeps the crumb extra moist while the eggnog buttercream adds a rich, festive finish.
Spice Cake Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 22 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 slices
- ⚡ Calories: 703kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Warm and cozy with cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, and creamy eggnog buttercream
- ✋ Difficulty: Intermediate, a rewarding from scratch bake
Quick Answer
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, ginger, and cloves. Cream butter with sugar and brown sugar, then beat in eggs, molasses, and vanilla. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk, mixing just until combined. Divide between two pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 22 minutes. Cool, then frost with eggnog buttercream and top with sugared cranberries.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- A full pantry of warm spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, ginger, and cloves give this cake deep, cozy spice flavor in every bite.
- Molasses for moisture. A quarter cup of molasses keeps the crumb tender and moist while adding a rich, caramel like depth.
- Buttermilk makes it soft. The acidity in buttermilk tenderizes the crumb and reacts with the leaveners for a soft, even rise.
- Eggnog buttercream is festive. Beating eggnog and a little nutmeg into the buttercream gives the frosting a holiday flavor that pairs perfectly with the spice cake.
- Sugared cranberries shine. Sparkly sugared cranberries on top add a tart pop of color that makes this cake a true centerpiece.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It fills the whole house with the cozy smell of cinnamon and molasses.
- It is a from scratch layer cake that still comes together with simple pantry ingredients.
- It is a showstopping centerpiece, right alongside our layered lemon blueberry trifle at a holiday party.
- It delivers that same everyone asks for seconds energy as our s’mores cake.
- It delivers that same everyone asks for seconds energy as our fairy cakes.
- It earns a spot in the rotation right next to our spiced bundt cake.
Key Ingredients
Pantry staples plus warm spices and a few festive extras come together for this cozy spice cake.
- Flour and leaveners: All purpose flour with baking powder and baking soda gives the cake its soft, even structure.
- Warm spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, ginger, and cloves create the signature cozy spice flavor.
- Molasses and brown sugar: Add deep, caramel like moisture and richness to the crumb.
- Buttermilk: Tenderizes the cake and keeps it soft and moist for days.
- Eggnog and cranberries: The eggnog flavors the buttercream while sugared cranberries make a sparkly, festive topping.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Make this spice cake your own with a few easy swaps.
- Bake it as a 9 by 13 sheet cake or as cupcakes if you want something simpler to serve.
- Swap the eggnog buttercream for a classic cream cheese frosting any time of year.
- Fold in a half cup of chopped toasted pecans or walnuts for extra crunch.
- Skip the sugared cranberries and dust with powdered sugar for an everyday spice cake.
- If you want to switch things up, our lemon layer cake plays on similar flavors in a whole new way.
- If you want to switch things up, our swiss roll cake plays on similar flavors in a whole new way.
- In the mood for something different? Our maple cheesecake scratches a similar itch.
How to Make Spice Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then grease and line two round cake pans.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, ginger, and cloves.
- In a large bowl, cream the softened butter with the sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the molasses and vanilla until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk alternately, mixing just until combined and no dry streaks remain.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for about 22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.
- For the buttercream, beat the softened butter with the powdered sugar, eggnog, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon until light and fluffy.
- For the sugared cranberries, simmer the cranberries briefly in sugar and water, drain, then roll them in sugar and let dry.
- Stack and frost the cooled cake layers with the eggnog buttercream, then top with the sugared cranberries and serve.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Bring the butter, eggs, and buttermilk to room temperature so the batter comes together smooth and bakes evenly.
- Do not overmix once the flour goes in, or the cake can turn dense and tough.
- Cool the layers completely before frosting, or the buttercream will melt and slide.
- Toast the spices flavor by using fresh, fragrant ground spices, since older spices lose their punch.
- Make the sugared cranberries ahead and let them dry so they get that sparkly, crackly sugar coating.
- Chill the frosted cake briefly before slicing for the cleanest, prettiest layers.
- Plan the whole menu. This pairs effortlessly with our easy chocolate cake when company is coming.
- Plan the whole menu. This pairs effortlessly with our snickerdoodle cake when company is coming.
- Make it a full spread. Our coffee walnut cake rounds out the table.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
This spice cake is a true centerpiece, so set it on a pretty stand where everyone can see the eggnog buttercream swirls and sparkly cranberries before you slice into those cozy spiced layers.
Leftover slices keep beautifully covered for a few days, and the flavor only deepens, making this a great cake to bake a day ahead of a gathering.
Spice Cake FAQs
A spice cake is flavored with warm baking spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, ginger, and cloves, often with molasses or brown sugar for a deeper, cozier flavor than a plain vanilla or yellow cake.
Yes. If you do not have eggnog, use heavy cream or milk with an extra pinch of nutmeg in the buttercream. The cake itself does not contain eggnog, so only the frosting changes.
Store the frosted cake covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let chilled cake sit out before serving so it softens and the flavors come through.
Absolutely. Bake and wrap the cooled layers up to 2 days ahead, or freeze them for up to 2 months. Make the buttercream and assemble the day you plan to serve for the freshest result.
Yes. Divide the batter into lined muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Frost the cooled cupcakes with the eggnog buttercream.
A dry spice cake usually means it was overbaked or too much flour was packed in. Spoon and level your flour, check the cake at the 20 minute mark, and do not skip the molasses and buttermilk, which keep it moist.
Made this cozy spice cake? I would love to hear how it turned out, leave a comment and a star rating below and tell me what you topped it with!
Still filling out the menu? Readers love pairing this one with our confetti cake cookies, spice layer cake, creamy pistachio pudding, and 7up cake.
And when you are planning next week’s dinners, our brownie cake keeps the same easy comfort going.
Spice Layer Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ½ c flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tbsp cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 c butter softened
- ¾ c sugar
- ¾ c brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Frosting:
- 1 c butter softened
- 4 c powdered sugar
- ¼ c eggnog
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- cranberries:
- ½ c cranberries
- ¼ c water
- ¼ c sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep 3 – 9” cake pans by spraying them with cooking spray containing flour. Set them aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and salt. Set aside.2 ½ c flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp allspice, ¼ tbsp cardamom, ¼ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ½ tsp salt
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat.1 c butter, ¾ c sugar, ¾ c brown sugar, 4 eggs
- Add in the molasses and vanilla and beat.¼ cup molasses, 1 tsp vanilla
- Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour until everything is well incorporated.1 cup buttermilk, 2 ½ c flour
- Divide the cake batter equally between the pans. Place the pans in the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Let the cake rest in the pans for 10 minutes before turning them out onto cooling racks to come to room temperature.
- To make the frosting, place the butter in a large bowl and beat for 1-2 minutes. Butter should lighten in color. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in the eggnog, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon and beat until smooth and creamy.Frosting:, 1 c butter, 4 c powdered sugar, ¼ c eggnog, 1 tsp vanilla, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp cinnamon
- To make the sugared cranberries, boil the water and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Remove the pan from heat and let the simple syrup cool for about 5 minutes before adding the cranberries. Stir the berries around, thoroughly coating them with the syrup and leave them to soak in the syrup for 5-10 minutes. Remove the berries and lay them on a paper towel or flat surface spread out to dry for 2 hours. After the 2 hours are up, roll the berries in sugar until coated.cranberries:, ½ c cranberries, ¼ c water, ¼ c sugar
- To assemble the cake, start by placing the bottom layer on a cake stand with the bottom side up. Scoop about ½ c – ¾ c of frosting and spread in an even layer over the cake. Repeat the same thing with the second layer. For the last layer, place it with the top side facing up. Coat the top with frosting and using a spatula spread a very thin layer over the edges of the cake. Scrape the majority of the frosting off to create a barely frosted cake. Smooth the top layer.
- Frosting tips used #336 and 1M to create swirls and stars.
- Decorate top as desired with sugared cranberries, rosemary, anise and cinnamon sticks.cranberries:, ½ c cranberries, ¼ tsp cinnamon
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Remove cake about 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Cream butter & sugars full 3 minutes for max fluff.
- Sift dry ingredients to avoid spice clumps.
- Line pans with parchment paper circles for easy release.
- Use cake strips or damp towels for flat tops—less trimming.
- Chill frosted cake 15 minutes before slicing for sharp edges.
- Clean knife with warm water between cuts for picture‑perfect layers.
Nutrition
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These look and taste amazing – Thanks for the recipe!