Several partakers said this was the best cake yet!!!  I tell you, it was a sea of ecstacies!

Rose’s RHC spice cake is the same the BCC, except for the spices and the sub of whole eggs for yolks.  I love the BCC cake, so I went for yolks! 

I wanted to make a spice cake for my bosses who got me this great spice assortment for my birthday (http://www.penzeys.com/scstore/giftboxes/new/bakersAssortment8jar.html).  Rose’s spice cake doesn’t have the sort of spice I’m looking for (only cloves & cocoa powder), so I used the following spices instead: 

1 t each cardamon, cinnamon, and ginger
1/8 t. each nutmeg & cloves
1 t. dried lemon peel (=1T fresh) in the buttermilk
1t. double-strength vanilla.

For the frosting, I used the following

1 cold, thick roux of about 1-1/4 c. milk thickened with flour
5 oz. powdered, freeze dried peaches
1-1/2 sticks of butter
1 pkg cream cheese
1/3 c. raw honey (melted, but it solidifies at room temp to add stiffness to the frosting without being too sweet)
1/4 c. diced stem ginger
1 t. double-strength vanilla

Encrused with toasted slivered almonds.

The spice was very smooth and well-balanced. Not freakish, not hidden.  Just right!!!!!

The frosting was very soft when I put it on (not runny, just soft), but, after refrigeration and the hardening of the honey, it had a completely “normal” texture.  The roux adds volume and keeps it fluffy and lightens it without making it sweeter or richer, and the raw honey adds sweetness while remainig (or returning to) a solid (whereas liquid honey would make the frosting too thin).

Anne, this looks completely yummy!  I love the buttermilk cake, and your spices and peach/ginger sound like a great combo.  Must take a break from pies and make a cake again soon!

Oh Anne! Your cake looks amazing! The crumb looks great and the layers are so tall. I love how you frosted and nut-coated the cake.  Personally, I love the taste and texture of nuts on frosting. Is this the frosting recipe you gave me because it sounds very similar. If so, I can attest to the fact that it is mind-blowing.

Thank you both!!!

FG, this is very similar to the frosting I gave you, just some minor changes—this one uses raw, rather than liquid honey (so it’s a little firmer after the raw honey solidifies again—kind of like using melted chocolate and then it solidifies again and the frosting is firmer than it was when the chocolate was still melted), but other than that, it’s pretty much the same base.  I just realized I forgot to add the peach part to my poast—5 oz. powdered freeze dried peaches (just updated the post)—and that also helps thicken the frosting, as they absorb liquid.

Julie, I love the BCC, too!!!!  It was the perfect base for this cake!

Ahhh, that is an interesting trick. I’ve got to remember that one.

Your cake looks so beautiful and inviting and sounds delicious. I love that you included cardamom - a much underused spice in my opinion.

Thank, you, Sophia!

I love that you included cardamom - a much underused spice in my opinion.

I agree!  Using cardamon was, almost, the #1 criteria for the spices!!!  When I got my spice gift, the first thing I did was make a white cake with cardamon frosting!

I love to bake but I just do it for enjoyment and am not afraid to try new recipes and techniques. However, I am not a professional! But I did find a really great carrot cake recipe made with butter and ginger and cinnamon along with the carrots and pecans.  The cake is really good and freezes well. But I don’t want to do a cream cheese frosting. It was the first time making this particular carrot cake recipe. I am making, hopefullly several of them, for my SIL’s younger brother’s wedding. They are having an outdoor wedding with a picnic type reception. (Cakes and pies will be randomly arranged, at various heights, on 2 long tables is what I was told.) As you can see, no really large cakes like a wedding cake. They opted to have a special cake made just for the two of them, and no one else. So my daughter and I are making UNbaked pies and BAKED cakes to freeze for a few days before the wedding. (count, about 300!) SIL’s and brother’s dad is a preacher so the whole church was invited! LOL! But thinking maybe 225 or 250 might show up. I just would like to have a simple nice frosting for this 2 layer, 9- or 8-inch round carrot cake with cardamon, ginger, and clove, & cinnamon. Something that would hold up in the weather in mid-June. The wedding is 5:30 p.m. and the reception will probably be around 6:30 p.m. outdoors. I’ve looked at Rose’s Neoclassic Buttercream recipe and thought that really appeals to me. However, I have never made this type of buttercream by way of this method, but am willing to try since it should hold up better in heat & humidity. There will be a commercial size refrigerator we can use to store the cakes once they are iced. Would I be able to use the cardamon, corriander, cloves, and cinnamon in this icing? I am open to all suggestions. If this passes muster with my 28-year daugther, we will probably be making about 4 or 5 different cakes, (9-inch size round pans), and 3 different types of pies, the basics: apple, cherry, and blueberry in 9-inch pie tins. Also, do you have any suggestions as to how many cakes or pies we should make for a crowd this size if everyone eats dinner? Thank you very much for any advice or info! It’s much appreciated!

Hi, blazingsword!

It looks like you have some fun baking ahead of you!

As to frosting, I’d do the White Chocolate Mousseline with the flavors you suggest.  The mouseline is super-stable and the white chocolate version is, oh, amazingly delicous.  Sublime.  Incredible. I’ve made it with cardamon, and it was very good.  I noticed that, with freezing, the spice flavors mellowed a bit (rather than intensified).  I remember not being sure if I should add more cardamon, because I didn’t know if they’d mellow or intensify.

Rose has wedding cake portions in both of her books.  They’re smaller than regular whacking big “birthday cake” portions—a bit less than 1/2 the size.  So, if you consider a regular two layer 9” cake to serve, say, 12 on a normal slice-of-cake basis, I think you can safely bet this size cake will serve 25.  I’d consider a pie to serve 12 in this circumstance, myself. That’s just a sort of guide, though—it’s best to confirm with the book where she lays it out pretty clearly, including illustrations of how to slice each tier (and, in your case, a tier would simply be a cake).

Good luck and do report back (and feel free to ask any more questions).

—ak