When I was younger, my mom would frequently bake one of her “go-to” cakes. She’d bake either a pineapple upside down cake or a spice cake. I wasn’t a fan of her pineapple upside down cake but I loved her spice cake. I have never met anyone else that made spice cake as much as my mom did.

Every time I see any kind of cake, I think of my mom’s spice cake and wonder why no one else seems to bake them anymore. Is it out of fashion? Is it not fancy enough? Does it not sound delicious enough? Certainly there must be people out there who enjoy spice cake as much as I do.

I’ve had spice cake on my mind for a couple months now. This holiday season seemed like a perfect time to make my own version. If you have never had a spice cake, I’d like to introduce you to one. It’s my Spice Bundt Cake with Orange Frosting and it’s the best!

This cake is so easy to make and using a bundt pan makes it seems so fancy. I thought it would be difficult to bake a bundt cake but it was really as easy to bake as a sheet cake. The difference is that any recipe used for a bundt cake needs to be a particularly moist cake recipe because the batter is exposed to more heated surface area. If you don’t use a moist cake recipe, the cake will dry out while baking.

The bundt pan needs to be greased and floured thoroughly otherwise part of the cake may stick to the pan when it’s inverted to cool on a wire rack. Mixing all the ingredients and scooping it into the bundt pan was easy. When the cake was done baking, I was so nervous about the cake coming out of the pan and tearing apart. Taking the time to grease and flour every nook and cranny of the pan saved the day! The cake came out of the pan beautifully.

I was having a dilemma about what frosting to make for my spice bundt cake. I messaged a friend and asked her if I should make cream cheese frosting or orange flavored frosting. She said I should definitely make the orange frosting so I did.  I’m so happy I made orange frosting for this cake. It’s so good.

Bundt cakes seem to be drizzled with glazes instead of frostings. The frosting may seem a bit thick for this type of cake but it’s not. The orange frosting is light and tasty. The frosting will still slide down the sides of the cake, you just make need to help it along a bit. To get the effect you see in the picture below, load up the frosting on the top of the cake then push it towards the sides with the back of a spoon. It will slowly drip down the cake.

I love this Spice Bundt Cake with Orange Frosting and hope you do too. This would be a beautiful cake to serve to your guests during the holidays or any other time of the year. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Spice Bundt Cake with Orange Frosting

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• Cooking spray or shortening and a small amount of flour for greasing the pan

For the frosting:

• 2 ounces cream cheese softened
• 7 tablespoons butter softened
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• 6 tablespoons of half and half
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Instructions

• In oven, place rack in the middle. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugars until creamy and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and yogurt and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture a little at a time (so flour doesn't blow everywhere) and beat lightly, just until flour is no longer visible. Scoop batter to into bundt pan, making sure the batter is mostly even all the way around the pan.
• Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a butter knife. Turn the cake out onto a rack.
• While the cake is cooling, make the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter until light a fluffy. Add the orange extract and milk and beat until incorporated. Add the confectioners’ sugar ½ cup at a time to the cream cheese mixture and beat until mixed in thoroughly.
• Once the cake is cooled, frost the cake by dripping the frosting along the top. The frosting may seem a little thick. Add a thick layer of frosting on the top of the cake. Then, with the back of a spoon, push some of the frosting off the top so it gently flows down the side. Enjoy!