Last Updated on January 13, 2020 by Chef Mireille
Caribbean Spice Cake – This basic cake full of spices is perfect for tea time. America has Pound cake and the Caribbean has Spice Cake.
This is my Mom’s recipe and I tell you it was no easy task to get it!
For years, people have been asking my Mom for a recipe for her cake and her answer always is, “I don’t know. Just watch me when I bake it.” As if you can duplicate what she does when she says things like, “You know you have added enough milk when it looks right.” FINALLY, I cornered her down and forced her to measure as she went along and now have her recipe for eternity. It wasn’t easy and took a lot of arguing back and forth with me stopping her before every ingredient she added so I could measure it.
This is why for most family recipes I just ask her what’s in it and then I develop the recipe myself because this is a stressful endeavor for us both. She gets frustrated with me stopping her and I get annoyed as she knew the plan at the beginning so why is she screaming at me!!!
It is an all purpose Caribbean spice cake. We usually only frost or ice cakes for big events like weddings, so it is meant to be eaten as is, straight out of the oven. This cake is a slightly dense cake but super soft and fluffy, that is perfect with tea or a glass of milk. It’s not one of those fall apart in your hand cakes – it has body. Haitians, like my dad, like to eat it, dunking it in a glass of liqueur, along the lines of Grand Marnier. Besides, adding frosting both adds additional unnecessary sugar and the sugar will overpower the amazing flavor of the spices and rum.I guarantee you, once you make this cake, it will be often requested.
This is perfect to serve for Mother’s Day. Bake it in a square pan and cut in small squares and it will be the star of your Mother’s Day Brunch.
This recipe makes 2 cakes, as my Dad and I shared the same birthday so there were always two birthday cakes at our house.
 |
| blowing out candles on my 6th birthday |
Before we get to today’s recipe, let’s check out some other Caribbean treats!
Caribbean Recipes
- Coconut Drops (Coconut Lime Cookies)
- Sweet Bread
- Coconut Roll
- Coconut Bread Pudding
- Bojo (Cassava Cake)
- Cornmeal Pudding
- Jamaican Easter Bun
- Pain Patate (Sweet Potato Pudding)
IN THE MAKING
Soft and fluffy cake and my favorite part is the crusty edges!
Caribbean Spice Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond essence
- 3 tablespoons rum
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 6 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 2 cake pans with non stick spray.
- Sift flours and baking powder with spices and salt. Add raisins and mix thoroughly. Tossing the raisins with the dry ingredients ensures that the fruit does not sink to the bottom.
- Combine milks, vanilla, almond essence and rum and whisk to combine in a bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and regular sugar until very creamy. Add brown sugar and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well and making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add half the flour combination and mix until combined. Add half the milk combination and mix until combined.
- Add the remaining flour and mix and then the remaining milk. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
- Cool for 15 minutes before removing from cake pans.
- Cool completely before slicing.
I love spiced cakes.. This one looks great and a perfect choice for Mother’s Day. I will also give it a try soon.
I am sure you will love it – It is such a flavorful cake
Haha Mir, reading this i was like wow similar experience. My mom is also same, when I ask her recipe she will just say ingredients, how much?…she says it comes on its own. Somehow I am too the same, but getting adapted to measuring due to blogging. Love this spiced cake. I have never added maze in a cake and would to try this. Bookmarked.
When I cook for myself I don’t measure either however, I think baking is so scientific – a little off and your product will be ruined. Baking is the one thing I always need to measure!
Mireille this reminds me of my mum, she would ask me to watch and learn. She never had measurements for her recipes. When I’d ask her to measure she would get irritated and throw me out of the kitchen. My mother in law on the other hand had patience with me. She would ask me to measure the ingredients before proceeding to showing me the method. All recipes learnt from mum, aunts, grandmothers hold a special place in our hearts and blog. Adding 1/2 tsp of mace is interesting. I’ll have to try that in a spicy cake.
we use a lot of spices in the Caribbean and mace is part of nutmeg which grows abundantly where my grandmother is from – Dominica so we tend to use those spices a lot!
I love spice cake and this looks delish. I can imagine the heavenly taste. Bookmaking it to try soon. Perfect treat for mothers day. Thanks for the detailed recipe.
I am sure you and your Mom (if you make it for her) will love this cake!
I love the look of your lovely spiced cake. I would love to try making it if there was a recipe for an eggless version.
Use any standard egg replacer and I am sure the cake will be just as delicious!