This scratch chocolate spice cake will make a wonderful addition to your holiday dessert table. Spiced with cinnamon and allspice, this homemade chocolate cake recipe will be a family favorite.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
What you might not know about me is that I’m not a huge chocolate cake fan. ? I know…shocking. Well I may have to revisit that assessment.
I actually really LOVE this cake. The spices in it are just enough to give it a holiday flare, but not overpowering.
You end up with a cake that’s moist, chocolatey and with a hint of Christmas spices.
The glaze on this cake is amazing as well. It’s a fudgy glaze with just a hint of the same spices that are in the cake.
A LOOK AT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHOCOLATE SPICE CAKE:
All purpose flour: You’ll just be using plain all purpose flour in this recipe, so no going to the store to get cake flour or anything special.
Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder gives a good chocolate punch here. You want to use the natural unsweetened cocoa powder, not the Dutch processed…that is a different type and it matters.
Cinnamon, Allspice & Cloves: These are the ‘spices’ in the Chocolate Spice Cake and they’re SO good combined with chocolate. It just gives it a slight hint and makes a not-so-ordinary chocolate cake.
Brown Sugar: I like using brown sugar in chocolate cakes because I feel like it deepens the flavor.
Butter & Oil: We’re using both in the recipe. Butter for the flavor and a little added oil for moisture.
Hot Coffee: This will really bring out the flavor of the chocolate. Your cake will NOT taste like coffee though…and if you hate the idea of coffee, then just use really hot water instead.
MIXING METHOD FOR THE CHOCOLATE SPICE CAKE:
The mixing method for this cake is an adaptation of the regular creaming method.
You’ll just mix up the dry ingredients, then the liquid ingredients separately. You’ll whip up the sugar and butter really well then alternately add in the dry and liquid ingredients. After that’s incorporated, you’ll add in the hot coffee.
TIPS & FAQs FOR THE CHOCOLATE SPICE CAKE:
This cake is moist and will stick to the pan easily if you don’t grease AND flour the pan well. If you don’t want to use a bundt pan, you could use two, 8 inch round pans instead.
Don’t microwave it or melt it. Just set it out about an hour before you plan to bake the cake.
You want to use regular unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Dutch processed cocoa powder has the acids removed. Since this recipe includes baking soda, you need the acids in the regular cocoa powder, or your cake may not rise properly and the texture could be off.
When measuring your brown sugar, just pack it into your measuring cup.
Using coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor and spices in the cake and it does not make your cake taste like coffee. If you don’t have any coffee, or you hate the idea of using it, you can use very hot water instead, but do not omit the liquid.
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SUPPLIES USED FOR THE CHOCOLATE SPICE CAKE:
- White mixing bowl set
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- Large Glass KitchenAid Mixing Bowl
- KitchenAid Beater Attachment
- Hand Mixer
- Measuring Set
- Bundt Pan
Ok now let’s get to the recipe! Don’t forget to check out the video as well!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe
Chocolate Spice Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup natural cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick-room temperature)
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- 1 cup milk (preferably whole milk)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup hot coffee (or hot water)
For the glaze:
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 4 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, vanilla, milk and eggs. (You’ll add the coffee later.) Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the room temp butter, the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat on medium for about two minutes.
- Now you’ll add in your dry and liquid ingredients alternately. Take a third of the flour mixture and add into the butter and sugar mixture. Beat on low/medium just until combined. It'll be a little crumbly at this point. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add in half the liquid ingredients (not the coffee yet) and beat on medium just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add in the next third of the flour mixture, mix, then the second half of the liquid mixture and mix just until combined. Now add in the last third of the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add in the hot coffee and mix until well combined. Don’t over mix. Once it’s combined, stop mixing. You don’t want to mix for several minutes, that’s too long. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for just a few more seconds.
- Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for approximately 55-60 minutes.
- Set on a wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cake plate to cool completely.
- Add glaze to the top of the cake once the cake has cooled completely.
For the glaze:
- Add the three cups of confectioner's sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and ⅛ teaspoon allspice to a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, add the ½ cup (1 stick) butter, 4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and the ¼ cup of milk. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir well with a whisk. The mixture may not be smooth and the butter may separate a bit. Don't worry. Just move on to the next step. Pour the mixture over the three cups of confectioner's sugar you added to your bowl. Add in the vanilla extract and mix well with an electric mixer. Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool down for about 10-15 minutes or so. Spoon onto cooled cake. The glaze will firm up as it cools.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
How to Share
I’d love for you to share this recipe link or tag it, but please do not share screenshots or copy/paste the recipe to social media as the content and photographs are copyright protected and we (bloggers) work really hard on our content. Sharing the link, tagging us on socials and pinning it is super appreciated though!
OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- German Chocolate Layer Cake
- One Bowl Triple Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Rum Cake with a Kick
- Double Chocolate Black Forest Cake
Don’t Forget to Pin it Below!
Nancy
I’m not try to be picky or rude, but in the picture, the cake doesn’t look that moist. I’m always afraid of a dry cake. Do you think it’s just the picture?
Kara Jane
No worries Nancy. I found the cake moist. I don’t put dry cake recipes on the blog because I don’t like them either. I know that baking a moist cake is the number one goal when cake baking and I agree. With that said…I try my best to do a good job photographing my cakes, but maybe sometimes the pics come out a little too sharp or with too much texture and maybe that is making the cake look a bit dry. I didn’t find it dry though. As long as it’s not over-baked, it should be chocolatey and moist. 🙂
Susan Wilson
If Nancy was concerned about this being a dry cake could she use buttermilk instead of regular milk in the recipe?
Kara
Thanks Susan. It might be possible to do that, but using buttermilk would be adding in an additional acid, which may require the other ingredients to be adjusted, like the baking soda. It would really just take some experimenting. I really encourage people to go ahead and try the recipe as written first before changing things. It might be perfect for them as is. If it’s not, at that point, one could try some adjustments. I personally do not feel that this cake is dry. I wouldn’t post a cake recipe that I thought was dry, but I do know that everyone has different opinions and tastes. Sometimes photos show up a little grainy or with a little too much contrast and that can sometimes make a piece of cake look a little dry/grainy. I hope Nancy tried the recipe though and thanks for your suggestion!
Susan Wilson
Thanks for your answer. I generally try a recipe as written first before changing anything. I can’t wait to try this one. I discover how must I love chocolate with cinnamon when I was in Mexico and was served a Mexican Coffee Cocktail. Yum Yum.
Kara
Awesome Susan! I hope you like it. If you do have any issues, please feel free to reach out and I am happy to help. 🙂
Also, I completely agree with the cinnamon and chocolate combination. I LOVE it! I do have another similar version of this cake. It’s called Mexican Chocolate Bundt cake and it’s something I just recently posted. If you want to check it out, here’s the link: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/mexican-chocolate-bundt-cake/
Susan Wilson
Thanks Kara, I can’t wait to try this one as well.