The kids all ate it. Used butter instead of shortening. Mixed it like a regular cake recipe - not the crumble way. Frosted with a Easy Penuche Icing. Very moist, flavorful.

My uncle is not a fan of chocolate, but he does like spice cake. I made this for his birthday one year and he always requests it now. I usually make a layer cake rather than a sheet cake, and I think the extra icing between the layers helps keep the cake soft. Yum!

Deeeeelightfull! Made cupcakes. Also added a wee bit of vanilla to the icing and an extra tsp of maple. Yum!

Spice cake is my favorite cake, as well. I have been wanting to try this recipe, but was worried the high ratings were more for the frosting than the cake. Not to worry! I did make a few changes, but nothing that substantially changed the recipe. Most of my changes were in the directions because I'm really anal when it come to preparation. First I sifted the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves, but not the white sugar. I substituted unsalted butter for the shortening and creamed it with the white and brown sugars. I then beat in the eggs (one at a time, as directed), as well as a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Finally, I added the flour mixture (in fourths) alternately with the buttermilk (in thirds), beginning and ending with the flour mixture. I know this sounds complicated and time consuming, but it really isn't. I baked my cake in a 13x9 pan for 35 minutes. 45 minutes is too long. I always use an oven thermometer, so I know my oven is correct. Anyway, I frosted it with a traditional cream cheese frosting, and my husband and I both thoroughly enjoyed it! So, thank you Stephanie, from both of us!!

Perfect! Spice cake is my granfather's favorite cake and I made this for his birthday - he loved it. I did make a few changes based on reviews and personal preference: did 1/2 whole wheat flour, 2t cinnamon, 2t nutmeg, and 1/2 t cloves, substituted butter for shortening and added 1/2 c applesauce. My grandfather loves penuch icing so I did that instead of the buttercream.

Great recipe. I reduced the baking time by 10 minutes (35 minutes for a 13x9 pan)as suggested in previous reviews. Delicious!

This spice cake has just the right amount of spice. It is neither too dry nor too moist and keeps well. To reduce the calories from sugar and fat, I topped each piece of cake with a dollop of Cool Whip instead of using the maple frosting. It made an excellent light topping. I wondered about the mixing instructions in the recipe. The order given is not the usual way of mixing cake batters. I mixed the ingredients in the following order: I creamed softened butter with the sugars, beat in the eggs one at a time, then added the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. This method worked well. Finally, be careful of baking time! I used a 13x9 pan. I first checked the cake after 30 minutes, and it was done after 35 minutes.

Very good. Next time I will add golden raisins to the spice cake though! A great recipe.

This is the most wonderfully flavored, moist spice cake yet!

This was good, but I did have to modify it. Like others, my cake was done in 25 minutes, and I was very thankful for the reviews or I might have walked away from the oven and ended up with a burnt cake! I split the batter into two nine inch rounds, so that may have had something to do with it. Otherwise the recipe was great, tasted just like the spice cake I remember. The spice ratio was PERFECT but overall not quite strong enough for me, so I would probably increase the spices by half next time, just to my own preference. I didn't have any maple extract so I tried substituting some of the sugar in the frosting for real maple syrup. The texture was fine but the maple flavor was hardly noticeable--just a warning for anyone else who might try the same thing ;0). Otherwise it was great. Thanks for the recipe!

I didn't have cloves, so I used Allspice, and probably used too much. I believe this was a big mistake. The cake was, indeed, dry. I have a gas oven, and after 25 minutes, the cake was too done on the outside, but definitely not done on the inside. The icing was okay, but I would have liked a more buttery flavor. For some reason, I couldn't stand the smell of the icing when I was mixing it! I found this to be a strange cake and threw it out after having a small piece.

I have found another winner!! Perfect is all I can say!! This is my second request to make this cake for a birthday today!! Awesome and don't change a thing if you love maple and love spice cake!! Beautiful together!!

I made this recipe over the holidays and everyone LOVED IT! It came out very tasty and moist. I did make one substitution on the icing and use some rum & brandy flavouring instead which really complemented the cake. It was delicious! THANKS!

Perfect recipe! I made two of them becuase everyone love it so much. I baked one of them for 10 minutes less than recommended. It was much moister, and we preferred it.

Very tasty!

I doubled all of the spices, and used butter instead of shortening. It was delicious! Moist and dense, and I got raves. I also made a blackberry filling, and used Cream Cheese II frosting found on this website. This will definitely be my spice cake recipe from now on!

I have had this recipe in my recipe box since 2003 and have made it about a dozen times for everyone I know and it comes out fantastic everytime! Never had a problem with dryness. Thanks Stephanie for a wonderful recipe and getting me to make all my cakes from stratch from now on.