Spiced Walnut Cake
A moist and delicately spiced cake studded with walnuts and decorated in cream cheese frosting.
- Prep time
- 40 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raisins, plus 2 tbsp more for garnishing
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, plus 2 tbsp more for garnishing
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1+1/4 cup flour, sifted
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cup powdered sugar, or more/less to taste
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- splash of milk, if needed to loosen up frosting
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Prepare two 6-inch cake pans by greasing them and dusting them with flour.
- 2
In a medium bowl, combine the raisins and walnuts with the boiled water and baking soda. Give everything a stir and let this mixture rest while you prepare the batter.
- 3
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and mix again until combined. Add lemon juice and vanilla; then mix.
- 4
Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. Give everything a mix until it’s all blended in. Add the bowl full of water, raisins, and walnuts, then mix until it’s all combined.
- 5
Distribute the batter among the two pans and bake the cakes for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before flipping them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- 6
Meanwhile, create the cream cheese frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla until frosting is smooth and creamy. Add a splash of milk if you feel like you need to loosen up the frosting.
- 7
Once the cakes are completely cool, use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting over one layer of cake. Top with the second cake layer; smooth remaining frosting over the top of this layer. Center the extra raisins and chopped walnuts on top of the cake.