This is a ridiculously easy cake to make, with a gorgeous chocolate flavor packed with warm spices and the fudgy texture we all want in a chocolate cake.

Use this recipe to bake an 8-inch two-layer round cake, a 9x13-inch sheet cake, or 24 cupcakes.

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

This chocolate spice cake is the kind of crowd pleasing chocolate cake that everyone goes crazy for. It's rich and chocolaty with a warm, complex flavor that lingers in your mind and makes you want to go back for another slice.

This is also one of the easiest cakes I've ever baked - you won't even need an electric mixer.

Use this recipe to make a two layer round cake, a one layer sheet cake (the kind of cake I like to call a snack cake), or cupcakes.

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

Delicious frosting recipes for this cake

This is the kind of cake with plenty of delicious frosting options. These are my favorites.

• Maple miso brown butter frosting. This frosting makes everything more delicious (and I do mean everything), but maybe especially this cake.
• Cream cheese buttercream. For some reason, I feel that a thick swirl of cream cheese buttercream is exactly the right choice for chocolate spice cupcakes and my happy belly does not disagree.
• Mascarpone frosting. Mascarpone frosting is not as sweet as most kinds of frosting and the flavor and consistency are like a richer, thicker version of whipped cream. This is also one of the easiest and quickest kinds of frosting to whip up, taking only about 10 minutes to make.
• Milk chocolate buttercream. Because chocolate on chocolate is always a good idea.
• Chocolate ganache. Chocolate ganache can be poured over this cake while it's still warm, or whipped into a thick deeply chocolate frosting that can be spread or piped.
• White chocolate ganache buttercream. This tastes like the inside of a really good white chocolate truffle. It's impossibly rich, and so smooth and satiny that it literally melts on your tongue.
• Chocolate orange buttercream. The combination of chocolate, warm spices, and orange is impossible to beat, especially when topped with chopped roasted almonds and a sprinkle of orange zest.

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

Recipe: Chocolate Spice Cake

This recipe was originally published on ofbatteranddough.com. For more information, please see the original recipe: Chocolate spice cake

• 2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour (more for pan)
• 2 cups (426 grams) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup (114 grams) buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks/ 226 grams) unsalted butter
• ¼ cup (21 grams) cocoa powder
• 1 ½ cups water
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves OR ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (*See note)
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the inside of two 8-inch round cake pans, or a 9x13-inch baking pan, or line two cupcake pans with paper liners. (Here’s how to prepare a pan so your cake will not stick.)
2. Add the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl and use a wire whisk to stir.
3. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Use a fork or a whisk to blend together.
4. Cut the butter into 12 pieces and add it to a medium size saucepan along with the cocoa powder, water, cinnamon, allspice, cloves or nutmeg, black pepper, and salt. Set the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth and bubbling around edges of the pan.
5. Remove the cocoa mixture from the heat and pour it into the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, stir just until everything is combined.
6. Pour in the buttermilk and egg mixture and stir just until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan or cupcake tin and place in the center of a preheated oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. If When done, a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake or one of the cupcakes will emerge without any raw batter on it.
7. Remove the cake from oven, and set the pan(s) on a cooling rack. If you baked 8-inch round layers, allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then gently turn them out onto baking racks and allow them to cool completely before frosting. If you baked a 9x13-inch cake or cupcakes, allow the cake or cupcakes to cool completely in the pan before frosting.

Recipe notes

A bit of nutmeg or cloves in this cake gives it that distinctive warm flavor of a good spice cake. Both pair well with chocolate and cinnamon but as not everyone likes the flavor of one or the other, use whichever you prefer.

For more of my recipes, visit alittleandalot.com and ofbatteranddough.com.

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