desserts for two

My choice for March’s Cake Slice Baker’s cake is Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting.  Different and delicious!

At first I thought this may be more of a Fall choice, but why should we have to wait till then for such a tasty little cake?  A reminder – this is a 6″ cake, just as all of the cakes in Little Everyday Cakes are smaller portion desserts.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on the flavor and texture.  Then Bret had a piece and mentioned it tastes like a carrot cake without all the extra stuff (carrots, pineapple, coconut, nut).  He’s right.  That’s exactly what it tastes like.

The cake is barely sweet, but the brown sugar buttercream is fairly sweet, so the two together make a wonderful combination.  Be sure and try to get frosting with every bite!

The buttercream has brown sugar in it and the photo in the book looks really smooth and creamy.  Mine had a little brown sugar crunch.  I kept beating it, but it never achieved the smooth consistency called for.

I’m not complaining though.  I loved the little bit of brown sugar crunch.  It goes amazingly well with the light fluffy cake.

I baked the cake part of this recipe, then refrigerated the two layers for a couple of days until time to frost them.  They came out fine and the texture was nice.

Tips for a Successful Cake:

• Make sure, as always, that your ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg are fresh.  Toss away those five-year-old spices, please.  It makes quite a difference in flavor.
• The eggs and buttermilk need to be at room temperature.  This prevents curdling when you add them to the batter.
• Use a hand mixer for the best result.  Since these are small cakes, the butter and batter will just smush up against the sides of a big stand mixer bowl and not be blended as well.

We have enjoyed the heck out of this miniature Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting.  It’s a perfect size for several servings for two people and you won’t be eating giant pieces.

Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

Yield: 8 small slices

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Barely sweet spiced cake with a luscious brown sugar buttercream.

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Ingredients

• 1 1/3 C all-purpose flour (160g)
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 C butter, softened (113g)
• 1 C packed brown sugar (213 g)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• 2/3 C buttermilk, room temperature (139g)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting:
• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1/4 C packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 C powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tbsp milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Spray two 6" round cake pans with cooking spray. Line each pan with parchment paper, spray the parchment paper, then lightly flour the bottom and sides of the pans. Knock out excess flour.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
3. Place the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Use a hand-held mixer on medium speed and beat the butter until creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy, 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating well after adding each one.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low, then add about a half-cup of flour, then half of the buttermilk. Add another half cup of flour, then the rest of the buttermilk and blend. Finish with the 1/3 cup of flour and mix just until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Add the vanilla and beat 30 seconds. Pour half of the batter into each pan and bake for 28 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out almost clean.
7. Put the pans on a wire rack and let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and let them cool completely on the wire rack.
8. Prepare the frosting: Place the butter and brown sugar into a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer at medium speed and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes (may not be completely smooth - that's OK). Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and one tablespoon of the milk and beat until smooth. Add milk a teaspoon at a time until it's the consistency desired.
9. Place one cake on a cake plate and use about one-third of the frosting on that layer. Place the second layer on top and frost the tops and sides of the cake.

Notes

Changes from the original recipe: The original recipe calls for unsalted butter. If you use unsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp salt to the buttercream.

The original recipe calls for 1/4 tsp ground cloves, but I think that's overwhelming, so only use 1/8 tsp.

I used 2% milk to thin the frosting. It works fine.

Use little strips of wax paper around the bottom layer of the cake while you frost it to have a neat bottom border. Slide them out carefully when you're through frosting the cake.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 527Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 134mgSodium: 552mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 1gSugar: 52gProtein: 5g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th – never before – we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

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Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

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