Spice Cupcakes

Name: Spice Cupcakes
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter (softened (holds it shape but dents when pressed)); 1½ cups white sugar ((300g)); ½ cup brown sugar ((100g)); 4 eggs, room temperature ((If in a hurry, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)); 3 cups cake flour ((342g) (We used Swan's Down)); 2 teaspoons baking powder ((8g)); ½ teaspoon baking soda ((3g)); ½ teaspoon salt ((3g)); 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ((4g)); 1 teaspoon nutmeg ((2g)); ½ teaspoon ground ginger ((1g)); 1½ cups buttermilk ( (360g)); ¼ cup vegetable oil ( (54g) We use Canola Oil); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ((8g)); 1 tablespoon orange zest (or the zest of one orange) ((optional)); 2 sticks, softened ((226g) ); 16 oz Cream Cheese, softened ((This is two 8 oz packages) Use full fat cream cheese.); 6 to 6 ½ cups 747g powdered sugar ((690g-747g) Start with 6 cups, and adjust to your liking); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon orange extract (adjust amount to your liking)

These moist and spice cupcakes are perfect for fall, with fantastic flavor from brown sugar, warm spices, orange zest, and orange cream cheese frosting.

Spice cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting on a platter.

These homemade spice cupcakes are the perfect fall or winter dessert for the holidays, birthdays, and more- when our cravings for all things spiced and cozy are in full swing!

Table of Contents

How to Make Spice Cupcakes

You can find the full, printable spice cupcake recipe at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps!

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, add paper cupcake liners to cupcake pan(s).
Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Whisk for 30 seconds. Set aside.
In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, orange zest, and orange extract. Set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer, add the softened butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the white sugar and brown sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow of the yolk has blended.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid).
Mix just until incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix.

Scoop about ¼ cup bake batter into each cupcake liner (in the cupcake pans)
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. We like to remove cupcakes immediately from the pans to prevent over-baking. Baking times can vary depending on pan & oven- check at 15 minutes to be on the safe side, and adjust time as needed.
This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes!

Freshly Baked Spice Cupcakes, cooling on a wire rack.

Frosting

We love the combination of cream cheese frosting and spice cakes. We've used this combination often. Today, we changed things up a bit to pair the spice cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting. Of course, our classic cream cheese frosting is a great option too- but orange and spice are so great together!

This frosting combines softened butter, softened cream cheese frosting, a bit of salt, orange extract, and powdered sugar.

Just as with most cream cheese frosting recipes, this frosting is softer than buttercream. Pop the bowl of frosting or piping bag into the refrigerator for five or ten minutes to thicken it if it becomes too soft at any time while you are decorating.

*Also note that if you are using a cream cheese frosting, you'll need to refrigerate the cupcakes until a couple of hours before serving.

Decorating the Cupcakes

Decorate the cupcakes however you like! You can find some fun techniques in our tutorial for cupcake decorating. We used a 104 petal tip to pipe frosting ruffles and flowers onto our cupcakes.

Recipe FAQs

Buttermilk works great in a cake and cupcake recipes because the added acidity softens the strands of gluten in the cake batter. The result is a softer, more tender crumb.

Just a few examples of delicious buttermilk cakes are our buttermilk pound cake, lemon buttermilk cake, and coconut cupcakes.

Many of our recipes call for cake flour. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all purpose flour. This results in less gluten formation, which results in a softer, more tender cake.

Yes! If you would like to bake in advance, line the cooled cupcakes up row by row on a sheet cake board (or tray, etc). Lay plastic wrap across the top, and then wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Freeze for up to three months!

To thaw, move the wrapped cupcakes to the kitchen counter. After about 15 minutes, you can go ahead and loosen the foil or remove it altogether and frost.

More Spice Cake Recipes

In addition to today's recipe, we have many more spice cakes to share with you! Some of our favorites are gingerbread cake, pumpkin spice cake, and eggnog pound cake.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Make sure to check out our full collection of fall cake recipes as well as our full library of cake recipes! If you're interested in learning about cake decorating, we have a huge collection of free tutorials to share with you.

If you give these spice cupcakes a try, we would love for you to leave a comment and photo below!

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