Julie Clark
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Crazy Spice Cake
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This Crazy Spice Cake uses only pantry ingredients…no milk, eggs, or butter. This easy cake recipe is has a store-bought frosting and sweet caramel sauce.
Last month we shared with you the classic crazy chocolate cake recipe. Have you tried it yet? It’s so easy!
But although we love chocolate desserts, we know some of you don’t. So we took that wacky cake recipe and made into an easy homemade spice cake. It’s quick. It’s easy. And you’ll love this one just as much as the original chocolate version.
Why you’ll love this cake:
- Mix and bake in the same pan. Easy cleanup!
- Uses pantry ingredients.
- Makes a small cake so not many leftovers.
What is crazy cake?
Crazy cake or depression cake originated back in the depression days when ingredients like eggs and butter were harder to come by. Using pantry items on hand, this cake recipe was developed and has been enjoyed by many for years.
How to Make Crazy Spice Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In an UNGREASED 8×8 pan add the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt.
- Using a whisk stir all the ingredients in the pan until well-mixed. Use a small spoon to get the flour mixture out of the corners and along the edges moving it into the middle to be whisked.
- Next using a spoon make a big well in the dry ingredients on one side of the pan and a smaller well on the other side of the pan.
- In the large well place the vegetable oil.
- In a smaller well pour the vinegar.
- Next pour the cold water over all the ingredients in the pan.
- Whisk until combined. Use a spoon to get into the corners and along the edges of the pan to move the flour mixture out to the middle to be whisked.
- Once everything is well-combined if there are bubbles in the batter, gently tap the pan on the counter a few times.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven to cool before frosting and serving.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Use vegetable oil or canola oil. Or even melted coconut oil.
- This can easily be doubled to fit a 9×13 pan.
- You can add in ½ cup of raisins as an option. The raisins would be added in the step with the flour.
- You can sprinkle ½ cup of chopped walnuts over the top as an option and after baking dust with powdered sugar.
Toppings for Crazy Spice Cake
For this cake we did a simple mix of store bought cream cheese frosting and caramel topping. It’s easy and delicious! Here are other options:
- serve it plain
- dusted with powdered sugar
- top with whipped cream topping
- vanilla buttercream
- caramel buttercream
- powdered sugar glaze
How to Store Cake:
- If the cake is unfrosted, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Stores well for 3-5 days.
- If the cake is frosted, place the cake in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes and then cover with plastic wrap. Stores well for 3-5 days.
- To freeze the cake, wrap the unfrosted cake in plastic wrap and freeze. If the cake is frosted, place it in the freezer uncovered until slightly frozen and then wrap in plastic wrap. Will freeze well for 3-4 months.
Crazy Spice Cake
This Crazy Spice Cake uses only pantry ingredients…no milk, eggs, or butter. This easy cake recipe is has a store-bought frosting and sweet caramel sauce.
Servings 9
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 cup cold water
- 16 ounces cream cheese frosting (about 2 cups)
- ¼ cup caramel sauce (with extra for drizzle on the cake)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In an UNGREASED 8×8 pan add the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt.
- Using a whisk stir all the ingredients in the pan until well-mixed. Use a small spoon to get the flour mixture out of the corners and along the edges moving it into the middle to be whisked.
- Next using a spoon make a big well in the dry ingredients on one side of the pan and a smaller well on the other side of the pan.
- In the large well place the vegetable oil.
- In a smaller well pour the vinegar.
- Next pour the cold water over all the ingredients in the pan.
- Whisk until combined. Use a spoon to get into the corners and along the edges of the pan to move the flour mixture out to the middle to be whisked.
- Once everything is well-combined if there are bubbles in the batter, gently tap the pan on the counter a few times.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven to cool before frosting and serving.
Make the frosting:
- Place the contents of the canned cream cheese frosting in a small bowl.
- Add ¼ cup of caramel sauce to the frosting and stir until well-combined.
- Frost the cooled cake and then drizzle extra caramel.
Notes
This frosting is on the sweet side so keep that in mind. You can add caramel a tablespoon at a time and taste as you go to get the desired sweetness if you don’t like extra sweet. Or just use plain cream cheese icing.
The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 9 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of frosted cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 434kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 370mg | Potassium: 45mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 49g | Vitamin A: 6IU | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
