Spice Bundt Cake with Browned Butter Icing
Tender spice bundt cake made with favorite fall spices, and topped with the delicious nutty flavor of browned butter icing.
If you love browned butter in your treats, then you will also like this Browned Butter Banana Cake.

It’s official! The end of summer and the beginning of the fall season has arrived!
Are you ready for autumn harvest and fall foliage?
What a better way to welcome the new season then with a Spice Bundt Cake with Browned Butter Icing!
This spice cake is one of my favorite fall desserts to share. It’s easy to make, and is pretty much devoured in seconds.
The best part about baking bundt cakes is that there is no special decorating skills needed.
I don’t know about you, but seriously lack in cake decorating skills.
But I do love baking, so this is my perfect cake. Bake, drizzle icing over it, and enjoy!
Spice Bundt Cake Recipe
Although this isn’t a low carb recipe, I have cut down the sugar over the years and add some whole wheat flour into the batter.
This is one of those recipes where you just need to enjoy every morsel. In fact, if it was up to me, I would leave out all nutrition data out.
Goggle frowns on that, so it stays, but seriously don’t bother looking at the macronutrients and EAT THE CAKE!
Your house is going to smell wonderful when you prepare this cake!
All those spices blended together waifs though your house, and if you haven’t make browned butter icing before, that’s a whole new elevated level of deliciousness!
The icing has a wonderful nutty smell when the butter starts to brown.
It’s amazing!
Ingredients needed
Gather the following for the spice cake:
- All purpose flour
- Whole wheat flour – I love adding whole wheat to baked goods. Alternatively you could use all purpose flour for the whole recipe.
- Leavening agents – we use both baking powder and soda
- Fall spices – so much flavor in these spices; cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger
- Sugar – because this is cake. You can use monk fruit or a sugar alternative if you prefer. Just use a brand that is granular in texture.
- Butter – adds delicious fat and moisture to the cake.
- Buttermilk – adds tenderness and moisture to the cake.
- Eggs – binds the ingredients.
Gather the following for the browned butter icing:
- Butter, unsalted – this is the star of this icing. You are basically cooking until the milk solids turn brown. Keep a close eye on it to avoid burnt butter!
- Confectioner’s sugar – Be sure to sift the sugar so there aren’t any lumps in the icing. You can use a sugar free brand if you prefer.
- Vanilla extract – have you made your own yet? You need to – asap!
- Milk – cream or half and half can also be used. What ever you have on hand will work just fine.
STEP 1: Prepare The Bundt Cake Pan
Before you start mixing all the ingredients together the first step I like to do is to prepare the bundt pan so that the cake doesn’t stick to all those crevices.
I have always followed The Kitchn’s classic method using butter and flour giving me beautiful results.
Whisk the dry ingredients together
Next whisk together the spices, flours, baking powder and soda together.
Beat the wet ingredients
In a separate bowl beat the butter until it’s soft, then add the sugar and vanilla extra. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Combine the ingredients
Now we want to alternate adding the flour mix and buttermilk to the butter.
Start with flour and end with flour.
Add batter to bundt pan and bake
Now it’s time to add the batter to the prepared bundt pan. Don’t forget to have that greased properly.
Make browned butter icing
While the cake is baking, make the icing by browning the butter.
To brown the butter, place it in a sauce pan and cook on medium heat. Stir until the butter turns amber.
Mix the confectioners sugar with the vanilla extract and milk until well combined. Add the cooked butter (without any speckled burnt pieces if there are any.
Cool cake before adding icing. ENJOY!
How about serving with a a pumpkin spice latte or hot coffee with sugar free pumpkin spice creamer.
We shared this with my daughter and her boyfriend when they stopped by this weekend.
Little did we know that they swung by to buy some time before going to our local Animal Friends Rescue Project to pick up their sweet pup, Ricky!
What a friendly happy dog they’ve adopted! We got to meet him on their way back to their place, and he is adorable!
The new season begins with a new family member. I’m officially a grand-pup-parent now …. haha!
Looking for some more treats to try?
Be sure to check out these recipes too:
- Buttermilk Cupcakes with Caramel Icing
- Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Raisin Spice Bars
- Sweet Potato Cake with Crumble Topping
Spice Bundt Cake with Browned Butter Icing
Ingredients
Spice Cake
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Browned Butter Icing
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons milk more for desired consistency
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring butter and eggs to room temperature. Grease and flour bundt pan or apply cooking spray and set aside.
For Cake:
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium until the butter is creamy (about 30 seconds). Add sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time. On low speed, Alternately, add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture just until combined. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake and let cool completely on wire rack.
For Browned Butter Icing:
- In a medium bowl combine powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat until butter turns carmel in color, stirring often. This can take from 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour butter (leaving any burned sediment behind) over powdered sugar mixture and stir until smooth. Add additional milk, a tablespoon at a time for desired consistency. Drizzle over Spice Bundt Cake immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Please note that the nutritional information provided are guidelines and may vary based on the brand of products used. For your specific nutritional goals use My Fitness Pal or Verywell Fit recipe calculators. All content within this site is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise.
I first shared this recipe in September, 2013. I have updated it with additional content and new photos, October, 2020.
PIN TO YOUR CAKE, FALL AND DESSERT BOARDS
Great cake. The spices come through really good. The frosting definitely helps.
Thank you for trying this cake! I’m so glad you like it.
How many cups of batter does this make? I need 6 for a 3-D pan
Hi Jordan! I’m not sure to be honest. I have a 10-inch bundt pan and I’m pretty sure it holds at least 6 cups of batter.
This looks amazing! Please tell me how to sub for your low carb baking bend, if possible. Thanks!
I haven’t tried making this low carb, but now I want to! I would try 1 1/2 cups. Let me know how this works for you if you modify the recipe!
Hehe you are a puppy grandma now 🙂
Right?!! Haha wearing the title proudly 🙂
I love spice cake and yours looks nice and moist. I’m sure it was delicious.
Thank you, Karen! It didn’t last very long…that’s for sure 🙂
I would look like the Goodyear Blimp if I lived in your house.
Haha! We are all athleltes in my house which helps! I send a lot of the gooey stuff away and share it, but not this cake 🙂
No skimping on the icing!! 😉
It is soooo good!! 🙂
Thus would be perfect cake to make the house smell amazing, especially during a house inspection 🙂 love the icing
You are so right! This would be handy for real estate agents to whip up for an open house 🙂