Moist, spiced and topped with a light cream cheese frosting, this gluten-free Spice Cake is a great healthier dessert option for the Holiday season. Complete with a high altitude adjustment, so anyone can bake this cake!
Have you ever made something and then found out later that you made someone’s favorite food?
That was how it was with this Spice Cake. After making Gingerbread Cake, I fell in love and knew I wanted to make a similar cake, but something with more applesauce, less spicy, but yet still filled with spices. Spice Cake was calling my name.
I made this Spice Cake twice in the last month. Yeah, it’s good.
The funny thing is, when I first made this cake, I immediately added it to my “must share on my blog” calendar. A couple weeks later, my Grandpa passed away.
A few days after he passed away I was talking to my Mom on the phone and she had made a Spice Cake for a dinner party. She told me, Spice Cake was one of my Grandpa’s favorite desserts, so she made it as a nod to remembering him (AND because Spice Cake is delicious!).
I had no idea when I made Spice Cake a few weeks prior that it was one of his favorite desserts.
Now, posting this, I feel connected to him, and that makes me totally emotional and happy at the same time.
My Grandpa was never a huge sweets lover, he pretty much ate anything but I always knew that one of the few things he really loved was Cherry Mash. Which, I always thought was weird. Who doesn’t love brownies or cookies best?!
Do you have family members that don’t have a huge sweet tooth?
It is HARD for me to imagine what that must feel like but my Mom doesn’t have a big sweet tooth either, so I grew up watching my Mom make the cookies, and my Dad eating all of them. Lucky guy, huh? 😉
This Spice Cake is a perfect dessert for everyone, even those crazy family members that aren’t big sweet eaters. 😉
This gluten-free, whole grain Spice Cake is moist, thick but fluffy, and filled with the delicious and classic Spice Cake flavors of applesauce, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.
Topped with a light cream cheese frosting, just like my Gingerbread Cake, that really seals the deal.
Tangy, sweet, light and smooth… the cream cheese frosting is one I wouldn’t skimp out on! Sprinkle a few nuts on top and this simple, classic and easy recipe looks fancy and decadent in no time.
I mean, c’mon, look at that frosting.
I cut these Spice Cake pieces up before I let the frosting firm up a bit in the fridge, so it just sort of cascaded a bit over the sides. It was taaaaaasty 🙂
Hopefully this Holiday Season you are making plenty of delicious treats for the people you love, whether they are physically with you or not, and maybe, just maybe, you can add this Spice Cake to your list of “must bake this Holiday season.” 🙂
Looking for more Holiday flavored desserts? Check out my Skinny Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes or my Classic Thumbprint Cookies.
Don’t forget to complete your Spice Cake with some light cream cheese frosting on top!
- 1 1/2 cup oat flour (certified gluten-free)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup applesauce, room temperature
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
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Preheat your oven to 350 and line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper.
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In a small mixing bowl, mix your dry ingredients and stir together (oat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, salt).
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In a large mixing bowl, combine your coconut oil, brown sugar and applesauce and whisk together well. Add in your milk, egg, and vanilla and whisk together till all is well combined.
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Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir together till all is well incorporated. Add your walnuts and stir together again. Let your cake batter rest for a few minutes for the oat flour to soak up some of the wet ingredients and thicken up a bit.
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Pour your batter into your lined 9x9 pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or till the top of your cake is springy to touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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Spread light cream cheese frosting on top (link above) or your favorite frosting of choice. Place in the fridge for at least an hour for the frosting to firm back up a bit, unless you don't mind a little frosting cascading over the sides like I do!
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Cut into 16 pieces and devour!
*Store this Spice Cake in your fridge, and it will last about a week.
How to adjust for cupcake, please?
Hi there. I haven’t made this recipe as cupcakes before, but you could try baking them at 350 for 18-22 mins or so (it may take a few more).
This is a weird question but do you use whole cloves or ground cloves?
Ground cloves!
Love this cake! Only change I made was to leave vanilla out of icing and added instead 2 tsp of Rumchata. Amazing! Happy Holidays.
Awesome, Melodie, the rumchata sounds like a delicious addition!! Happy Holidays to you too.
If I wanted to use 2 nine inch round pans should I double the ingredients ?
Yes! One recipe per each 9″ round pan.
Hi. I was wondering if you can sweeten with maple syrup
In place of brown sugar?
Hi Deann – I haven’t tried doing that so I can’t recommend it, but you can. If you did, I would maybe try using 1/3 cup of maple syrup instead of the 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I hope that helps!
Just a quick question, can you use any kind of gluten free flour or does it have to be oat flour only. The recipes sounds really good and it looks like it will be easy to make. Please let me know something as soon as you have the time. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I’ve only been on a gluren free diet for a couple of weeks and it’s a little hard to get adjusted to. Have a great day!
Hi Debi, yes for a recipe like this you would need to use oat flour. Oat flour needs more moisture, so if you use all purpose gluten-free flour the batter would not turn out thick enough. A lot of my recipes have oat flour, but you can try checking out my cookie recipes, as many of them are made with just all purpose gluten-free flour!
Welcome to the gluten-free world Debi!! Oat flour, can be made very easily by grinding gluten-free oats in a food processor, or a dry blade if you have a Vitamix! It is often much cheaper than buying other gluten-free flowers, which are often higher in the glycemic index. I love working with gluten-free oat flour and have been cooking gluten-free for about 15 years. Hope that helps!