Spice Cake

Instructions

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

Add the sugar to a sauce pan and heat it over medium heat until the sugar has melted. Stir occasionally to ensure it gets equally heated. It will take a little while for it to melt down so be patient. When most of the sugar has melted, but there are still a few crystalized clumps, turn the heat down to low so the melted sugar doesn't burn.
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
Once all the sugar has melted, add in the butter right away. Stir quickly until the butter is incorporated.
5 tbsp (70 g) unslated butter, softened
Once the butter has melted in, add in the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and salt.
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp salt
Stir until everything is combined together and let the caramel simmer on the stove for 2-3 minutes to allow it to thicken a little more. Once it has become thicker, it should coat the back of a spoon thickly, remove it from the heat, pour it into a small bowl and allow it to cool completely. (It will continue to thicken as it cools.)

For the Spice Cake

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray 2 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves.
2 1/4 cups (281 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves
In a large bowl cream the softened butter, granulated white sugar and brown sugar together on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar, packed
Then add in the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until pale in color and smooth.
3 eggs, at room temperature, 2 tsp vanilla
Add in the buttermilk and sour cream. Mix on medium low speed until combined.
(The batter will look curdled at this point but don't worry. It will pull together once the dry ingredients are added.)
1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature, 1/3 cup (82 g) sour cream, at room temperature
Add in the dry ingredients a little bit at a time, mixing on low speed just until all is combined and the batter is smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary.
Divide the batter evenly among the cake pans. Bake the cakes for 23-26 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then on a cooling rack until they are completely cooled.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

To a large bowl, add the softened, unsalted butter. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
Then add in the cold cream cheese and mix on medium speed until combined and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, cold
Sift in the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix on low speed until all is combined, then on high speed for 1 minute until fluffy again.
3 1/2 cups (455 g) powdered sugar

Assembling & Decorating the Cake

STEP ONE Filling the Cake: Place the plate you plan to serve the cake on, on a cake turntable. Add a dollop of frosting in the center of your cake plate. Lay the first cake layer on top of the frosting. This will help the cake to stay put while you're decorating it. Add a generous amount of cream cheese frosting onto the cake layer and smooth it out flat with an offset spatula, turning the cake table as you go. Add about 1/4 of the frosting to a piping bag and cut off the tip so you have a half inch opening, or use a large circular piping tip. Pipe a “border” layer of frosting just on the edges of the cake layer. Make sure the border of frosting is about ½ inch thick and 1 inch high. Then add about 1/3 cup (80 ml) of caramel sauce on top of the cake layer.
STEP TWO Creating the Crumb Coat: Add the second cake layer on top. Place small dollops of frosting on the sides of the cake and top of the cake. Even out the frosting as much as possible with your offset spatula. Then with your cake scraper, scrape the icing across the cake, turning the cake turntable as you go to make this as easy as possible. The frosting should be a thin layer for this step. It ensures the cake's final layer will be free of crumbs. Chill the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes.
STEP THREE Final Layer of Frosting: Once the cake has chilled in the fridge, remove it and apply the final coating of frosting. You may need to rewhip the frosting at this point. Apply generous dollops of frosting on the sides of the cake and the top of the cake and smooth them out with your offset spatula. Then with your cake scraper even out the frosting, turning the cake turntable as you go, to give you a smooth finish of cream cheese frosting on the entire cake. Chill the cake for 20 minutes.
STEP FOUR Adding the Caramel Drip: Add the salted caramel sauce to a piping bag and cut a small amount of the tip off. Once the cake has finished chilling, squeeze caramel around the top edges of the cake so it starts to drip down the sides. Then squeeze caramel on the top of the cake and smooth it out with an offset spatula.
(I recommend waiting to do this step until right before you're ready to serve the cake because the caramel will continue to drip down the sides of the cake.)
STEP FIVE Decorating the Cake: Rewhip if necessary and then transfer the remaining cream cheese frosting to a piping bag fit with a decorative tip. Once the cake has chilled, pipe decorative swirls of frosting on top of the cake. Decorate with cinnamon sticks and star anise, then serve the cake!

Ingredients

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

For the Spice Cake

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

For the Spice Cake

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

Assembling & Decorating the Cake