This spice cake is the ultimate comfort food. Paired with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and cinnamon streusel for some crunch.
Aside from myself, Ryan is the only person I bake a birthday cake for every year. Friends and family will certainly get slices of a cake I happen to make around their birthday (though I do take their flavour preferences into consideration), but Ryan is the only one who can actually request a specific cake for his birthday, and I will happily make it. I actually bug him for flavour ideas repeatedly leading up to the day.
Last year, he requested a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake because it’s one of his favourite cereals. You really can’t go wrong there, amiright? This year, his request was for a Spice Cake with cinnamon frosting. I guess he has a thing for cinnamon!
Though arguably more of a Fall flavour, I feel like spice cake can (and should) be eaten all year round. There is something so comforting about the smell of all those delicious spices. It’s the perfect warm hug on a cool spring day.
This Spice Cake is fairly dense and fudgy (if you can call a non-chocolate cake fudgy) due to the applesauce in the cake batter (vs something like buttermilk). The applesauce adds both moisture and flavour, and is the perfect addition to this cake. Apples and spices go hand in hand in my opinion.
I am really loving cream cheese frostings lately. I don’t like cream cheese on its own, or even cream cheese based cheesecakes, but there is something about it in frostings that has me all like <3 <3 <3. I think it’s the combo of sweet/tart without being overpoweringly cheesy. The cake isn’t overly sweet either, and I think it’s just the perfect balance.
My cream cheese frosting has more butter in it than most, to help balance out the cream cheese and create more of a workable texture. Cream cheese frostings can be soft and difficult to work with, but this one is perfectly light and fluffy, and goes particularly well with this spice cake.
I added some cinnamon streusel for some crunch, because I love the additional texture and flavour it gives to a cake. You can skip this if you’d like, but it’s so easy to make and really adds more dimension to this Spice Cake.
I promise you this cake is SO good. Coming from someone who isn’t exactly a cinnamon lover, I think this speaks volumes. You will not be disappointed!
Tips for this Spice Cake:
- If you don’t have applesauce, you can substitute buttermilk or regular milk.
- The cinnamon streusel is optional, but easy. It’s really delicious!
- If you like this recipe be sure to check out my Apple Pie Cake, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake, and Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake!
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Spice Cake With Cinnamon Streusel
Ingredients
Spice Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup applesauce unsweetened
Cinnamon Streusel:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 Tbsp light brown sugar packed
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- pinch salt
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese full fat, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Spice Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, spices, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and dark brown sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and applesauce, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of applesauce). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Bake for 30-35mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack. Allow to cool completely.
Cinnamon Streusel:
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until clumps form. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 5-7mins.
- Cool completely on baking sheet. Break up any larger chunks if needed.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy (2 mins). Add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add vanilla & cinnamon and beat until fluffy (3 mins).
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with 2/3 cup of frosting and 1/4 cup streusel (or more if desired). Repeat with remaining layers and apply a thin coat of frosting all over the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Use the remaining frosting to frost the cake with rustic swoops. Use extra streusel to decorate bottom and top of cake if desired.
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Elizabeth says
Great recipe! The cinnamon streusel really adds something.
Olivia says
So happy you liked it, Elizabeth!
Kate says
Well, to be honest, I don’t want to go to the store again and I am making it in the morning. haha. I really want to make this though so I will get over it and make a quick run in the morning :).
Olivia says
Ohhh, haha, I dont blame you. You could totally just use milk instead!!
Kate says
Hi!
I have made many of your cakes and LOVE them every time.
Can I replace vegetable oil, shortening, or butter for the applesauce?
Google is not being very reliable.
Thanks 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Kate! No, not in this case since there is butter already in the recipe. Why do you want to replace the apple sauce? You could just try it with 1 cup milk instead.
Peyton says
Im so excited to try this! My husband isn’t a big chocolate fan and Im always looking for something new to try that he will love. This is beautiful! Im going to make it for his Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow! Thanks for sharing!
Olivia says
Hi Peyton! I hope you both love it. Let em know how it turns out 🙂
Patti says
I went to search for 6” cake pans on Amazon and there are different depths. What depth pans did you use? Can’t wait to make this in Fall!
Olivia says
Hi Patti! Mine are all 2″ tall, but 3″ tall works fine too and give you more flexibility.
Wendy D says
This cake was so YUMMY! My daughter made it for my husband’s birthday and we were thrilled with it! We don’t have 6” cake pans so we just used 2, 9” pans and it worked great. I am a cream cheese frosting fanatic and the cinnamon in this frosting along with the streusel crumble was the perfect touch! I am telling everyone I know about this recipe!
Olivia says
Hi Wendy! Thanks so much, I’m so happy you loved it 🙂
Nessa says
I was so excited to try this cake recipe out! As I was making it, it seemed pretty thick and I am at a high altitude but I only added one tbsp extra (I did one cup of applesauce and 1/2 c of buttermilk when I 1.5x’s the recipe) and it turned out.. amazing!! Seriously so yummy! The streusel was perfect in between the layers and that frosting is hands down one of my favorites!! Thank you thank you! I did it for a baby shower and multiple guests said they didn’t even like cake but this was delicious and ate their whole slice (along with my girls!)
Olivia says
Hi Nessa! I am so thrilled that you liked it! Thanks for the amazing feedback and your high altitude tips!
Rachel says
If I could do more than five stars, I would. This cake is amazing! Perfect for the holidays. I made it for Christmas; doubled the recipe, did 1.5x for the spices, and created an eggnog/nutmeg American buttercream. Soooo good! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Olivia says
Thanks so much Rachel! I’m so happy you liked it. The eggnog buttercream pairing sounds delish!
Rachel says
Hello! I am so excited to make this cake for Christmas next week! I do have a few questions. Do you think it would go well with your eggnog Swiss meringue buttercream from your eggnog latte cake?? I wanted to add a component of eggnog and thought that frosting recipe looked amazing. Also I’m worried with my hour or so drive on Christmas, the cream cheese frosting won’t hold well so I thought maybe the Swiss meringue buttercream would be better? Any tips on making Swiss meringue buttercream for the first time??
Thank you so much 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Rachel! I think it would go great with the eggnog SMBC 🙂 Regardless which buttercream you use, be sure to chill the cake well before the 1 hr drive. SMBC will chill and set more firm. See this post here for all of my tips: https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/
Rachel says
Thank you so much! I appreciate your advice!
Sheryl says
Great cake! My daughter-in-law asked for spice cake with cream cheese icing. I used your cake recipe, my cream cheese frosting, and tried an orange curd filling.between layers. The cake was a hit… the flavoring really works. With the dense texture of the cake, the curd was little too heavy, IMO, but tasty. One of the other commenters mentioned freezing the cake layers. I did that too. I iced and decorated it straight from the freezer and a few hours later it was the perfect temperature for serving. I will definitely make this again with your streusel or other combos.
Olivia says
Hi Sheryl! So happy you liked this one and thank you for all your tips 🙂
Alison says
We have a family friend. Nobody has had a birthday for him since he was a child. I offered to make him a cake and he likes spice cake so I wanted to make him something special. This cake is amazing. I had only nine inch round pans and of course the first two ended up to be very small because the cake is so dense. I just made an extra and filled up the nine inch round and out all the layers together. It was a beautiful cake. Everyone there said I should be selling the cakes I bake. The birthday boy nearly cried. Thank you for an amazing recipe.
Olivia says
Hi Alison! What a wonderful way to make his day special! I’m so glad you chose one of my recipes to do so and that everyone loved it 🙂
Elizabeth May says
Delicious! The streusel was a great addition… love that crunch. The icing really made it…seriously one of the favorite icings I’ve made.
Olivia says
Hi Elizabeth! So happy you loved it! The streusel is my favourite part 🙂
Holly says
How long before the streusel gets soggy between the layers. I may have to bake and stack a few days before the party. Other obligations cause me not to be able to put it altogether and eat the same day.
Olivia says
Hi Holly! It should stay pretty crunchy for a couple days. I don’t find the streusel ever to get soggy, maybe a bit chewy eventually.
Katie says
Hey Liv! So my friend asked me to make her wedding cake (eek!) and she wanted some sort of autumnal spice cake. Found your recipe and made a taste test cake and my friend said it’s exactly what she wants! So now to prepare for the main event..! How much batter do you think I’d need for 2x 10in pans? And do you have any advice for freezing cakes – how do I freeze them? How long do they keep frozen? When should I take them out? Would they keep at room temp once thawed? Sorry for so many questions, can you tell I’ve not frozen a cake before?! Thank you in advance 🙂
princess waring says
I would like to try this Cake my pans are 8’3 and 9’3 deep. So should I double this recipe.
Also to get the high should the leveling agent be increased?
Olivia says
Hi there! You can either 1.5x the recipe for three 8″ pans or 2x the recipe for three 9″ pans.
Courtney says
I made this cake for a friend’s birthday and it was absolutely FANTASTIC! Every element of this cake is great on it’s own and even better when assembled. I was able to make the cakes in a advance and freeze them and they thawed beautifully, the applesauce kept everything moist without adding apple flavor. The streusel was super easy to make and added a great texture to the rest of the cake. And the frosting was so good, I had to stop myself from eating too much of it while the cake was chilling after the crumb coat. The best compliment I got was from a friend who had the cake for the first time after it was in the fridge for two days and texted me to say how delicious it was!
The only issue I ran into was that all 3 layers sunk in the middle during baking, which rarely happens for me. But when I levelled the cakes I used some of the tops to fill in the craters and it worked out great!
This recipe absolutely deserved 5 stars!
Olivia says
Hi Courtney! I am thrilled to hear that you loved this recipe! Thanks so much for all your tips and feedback 🙂
Kim C says
I love this recipe! It screams fall! I’m making this recipe for family this weekend as cupcakes. I changed it only slightly so I could get a dome on the cupcakes. I did 1/1 of baking soda and powder. They rose perfectly. I add more cinnamon but that’s my preference on a spice cake. I use marscapone in the frosting and love the richness it gives since I’m not a cream cheese fan. The streusel is what completes the trifecta of flavor for me. Everybody loved it! I love that your recipes are always consistent in texture and that the flavor is always there. Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Kim! So glad you loved it 🙂 Thanks so much for all your tips!
Molly Fitzpatrick says
Love the idea of putting applesauce in this! Do you think you could swap all-purpose flour for pastry flour when making this cake? Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Molly! I haven’t tried it myself, but I think it would work fine.
Tony says
How can I make the frosting just cinnamon buttercream? How much extra of the ingredients would you recommend I add?
Olivia says
Hi Tony! I would use 2 1/2 cups butter and leave the cream cheese out. You might want to add another cup of powdered sugar as well, but just taste the frosting and see if you’d like it sweeter.
Debra says
Hi. My husband asked for spice cake for his birthday so, naturally, my goal is to succeed with your beautiful recipe. Unfortunately I do not own three 6” pans. Would I need to adjust the recipe and cook time for two 9” rounds? What would you reccommenf for bake time? Thanks so much for posting all of these stunning cakes. I’m new to your blog but I’ll be working my way through lots of your recipes.
Olivia says
Hi Debra! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html I would try 1.5x the recipe for two 9″ pans. Let me know how it turns out!