Cream Cheese Frosting for Spice Cake

Tomato soup in a spice cake. Sounds wrong. Works so well it’s kind of annoying.

Why You’ll Love This Cream Cheese Frosting Spice Cake

Takes just over an hour total — 25 minutes prepping, 40 minutes baking. Done before dinner. The cream cheese frosting isn’t overly sweet. Almond extract keeps it interesting. Not your typical cake-and-icing situation. Dried cherries and pecans show up in every bite. Texture thing. Matters. Whole wheat pastry flour makes it feel like an actual dessert, not a boxed thing. Tomato soup sounds weird until you taste it — just adds moisture and depth. Nobody guesses what it is.

What You Need for Cream Cheese Frosting Spice Cake

Whole wheat pastry flour. Two and a quarter cups. Regular all-purpose works if that’s what you have, but pastry flour browns differently — softer, less tough.

Brown sugar. A full cup. Not white. Brown sugar changes how the cake tastes — molasses depth that white can’t do.

Butter and eggs. Softened butter matters here. Cold butter won’t cream properly. Three large eggs. Room temperature helps them mix in without curdling.

Baking powder. Three teaspoons. That’s the leavening for this whole thing.

Spices. Allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg. Two teaspoons cinnamon, one allspice, half a teaspoon nutmeg. These amounts work together. Don’t guess.

Tomato soup. One can. Condensed. The acidity wakes everything up. The moisture keeps it from being dry.

Strong black coffee. A quarter cup. Brewed, not instant. Coffee and chocolate don’t need each other — coffee alone does the job here, makes spices pop.

Dried cherries and pecans. Three-quarters cup cherries, half a cup pecans chopped. Cherries give tartness. Pecans add crunch and nuttiness that just stays.

For the frosting — cream cheese frosting using cream cheese, softened. Five ounces. Not the block straight from cold storage. Soft cream cheese spreads without tearing the cake. Unsalted butter. One and a half tablespoons. Almond extract. One teaspoon. Powdered sugar. One and a half cups, sifted first.

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting Spice Cake

Preheat to 347 degrees. Center rack. A 13 by 9 pan — glass is better here, metal works. Glass shows you the browning on the sides. Butter it well.

Whisk the dry stuff together first — flour, baking powder, spices. This matters. Whisking spreads the baking powder around evenly instead of getting clumps of it in one corner. Lumps in spices taste weird. Get them out now.

In another bowl, beat softened butter and brown sugar. Medium speed on the mixer. Three minutes. You’re looking for it to get lighter in color and fluffy — air gets trapped in there, and that’s what makes the cake not dense. Add eggs one at a time. Wait for each one to fully mix before the next one goes in. Rushing this causes curdling. It’s not a disaster if it happens, but you’ll get a weirder crumb.

Now the tricky part. Alternate the dry ingredients with the tomato soup and coffee. Dry first, then soup-coffee, then dry, then soup-coffee, end on dry. Low speed. This keeps gluten from developing too much — you want a tender cake, not a tough one. The batter will look thick. Dense. If it seems too stiff, splash more coffee. Don’t overmix.

Fold in the cherries and pecans with a spatula. Not the mixer. Folding keeps them from getting beaten to pieces.

Pour it into the buttered pan. Even it out. Tap the pan on the counter once — hard enough to release air bubbles but not hard enough to mess anything up. Straight into the oven.

How to Get the Spice Cake Texture Right

Bake for 38 to 42 minutes. Start checking at 35. You’re looking for the top to go matte — that shiny glossy look means it’s still too wet. Small cracks on top are fine, normal even. The real test is a toothpick or thin knife in the center. It should come out mostly clean but with a few moist crumbs stuck to it. Not gummy. Not dry. That middle spot.

Under-baking here leaves a gummy center. Over-baking makes it taste stale by the next day. Watch it close in those last five minutes.

Cool it on a wire rack. At least 90 minutes. The cake firms up as it cools. Don’t try to frost it warm — the frosting melts off.

While that’s cooling, make the cream cheese icing using cream cheese. Cream cheese and softened butter in a chilled bowl — cold bowl matters because warm cream cheese frosting gets greasy and splits. Beat until smooth. Add almond extract. One teaspoon. It cuts the richness of the cream cheese, keeps it from tasting one-note.

Add powdered sugar slowly. If you dump it all in at once, lumps form and don’t come out. Gradually beat it in until the frosting looks spreadable — thick enough to see knife marks in it, not thick enough to crack when you spread it.

Spread it over the cooled cake. Even layer. Not too thin or it disappears. Not so thick you’re eating frosting instead of cake.

Refrigerate it for 90 minutes to 2 hours. Cold frosting firms up, makes slicing clean instead of smearing everything around.

Take it out 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Room temperature opens up the flavors. Cold cake tastes muted.

Cream Cheese Icing Tips and Common Mistakes

Don’t use cold cream cheese straight from the fridge. It won’t blend smoothly. Leave it out for 30 minutes.

The bowl temperature really does matter. Room temperature cream cheese plus room temperature butter plus a room temperature bowl works. A warm bowl breaks the frosting.

If your frosting splits or looks greasy, you’ve either over-beat it or gone too warm. Start over with cold ingredients. Seriously. It fixes faster than trying to salvage it.

Powdered sugar lumps are real. Sift it first. Saves time later.

The tomato soup is doing work. Don’t skip it or substitute it. It’s not the tomato flavor coming through — it’s the acid and moisture. Unsweetened applesauce works as a swap if you truly can’t do soup. Not ideal. But works.

Dried cherries are tart. If you only have raisins, use them. The cake won’t be the same — less brightness — but it’s still good.

Whole wheat pastry flour browns differently than regular flour. Edges get darker faster. If your cake is browning too much, lower the temp five degrees and add a few minutes. Every oven is different.

Cream Cheese Frosting for Spice Cake

By Emma

Prep:

25 min

Cook:

40 min

Total:

1h 5min

Servings:

12 servings

Ingredients

• 240 g (1 5/8 cups) whole wheat pastry flour
• 15 ml (3 tsp) baking powder
• 10 ml (2 tsp) allspice
• 5 ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
• 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) ground nutmeg
• 90 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 225 g (1 cup) brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 can 284 ml (10 oz) condensed tomato soup
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) strong black coffee
• 100 g (3/4 cup) dried cherries
• 60 g (1/2 cup) chopped pecans
• Cream Cheese Glaze
• 140 g (5 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 25 ml (1 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 5 ml (1 tsp) almond extract
• 200 g (1 1/2 cups) sifted powdered sugar

Method

1. Cake
2. 1 Rack in center of oven. Preheat to 175 °C (347 °F). Butter a 33 x 23 cm (13 x 9 inch) glass or metal pan. I prefer glass here; it browns edges gently.
3. 2 Whisk together flours, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg in medium bowl. Sifting helps break lumps and aerates flour, important for crumb evenness.
4. 3 In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy and lighter in color — about 3 minutes. This traps air, helps lightness. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each until fully integrated — don’t rush or you’ll get curdling.
5. 4 Alternate adding dry ingredients with tomato soup and coffee, starting and ending with dry. Mix on low speed, scraping down sides. Batter will be dense, not runny. If too stiff, splash a little more coffee, but avoid overmixing or gluten tightens.
6. 5 Fold in cherries and chopped pecans with spatula. They give bites of sweet tartness and crunch.
7. 6 Pour batter evenly into pan. Tap pan on counter once for air bubbles to rise. Slide into oven immediately.
8. 7 Bake 38–42 minutes. Start peeking at 35 minutes; top should be matte with subtle cracks, tester inserted centered should come out mostly clean with moist crumb. Underbake = gummy center; watch closely towards end.
9. 8 Remove and let cool on wire rack for at least 90 minutes. The cake firms as it cools — crucial before glazing.
10. Cream Cheese Glaze
11. 9 Beat cream cheese and butter in a chilled bowl until smooth and creamy. A warm bowl makes this greasy.
12. 10 Add almond extract, blending well. Almond notes cut rich tanginess.
13. 11 Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth but spreadable. Don’t dump sugar all at once; lumps form otherwise.
14. 12 Spread glaze evenly over cooled cake. Thick enough to see knife marks but not slide off.
15. 13 Refrigerate glaze-coated cake for 1.5–2 hours. Firm glaze makes slicing cleaner.
16. 14 Let rest 15–20 minutes at room temperature before serving. Makes glaze soft and flavors open.
17. 15 Store covered in fridge up to 3 days; serve within that window to avoid drying.

Nutritional information

Calories

320

Protein

5g

Carbs

42g

Fat

14g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Cream Cheese Frosting Spice Cake

Can I make this cake without tomato soup? Technically yes. But it changes everything. The soup adds moisture and a subtle depth that coffee alone doesn’t do. You’d need to add more liquid — maybe another quarter cup of coffee. Cake would be denser. I wouldn’t bother. Just use the soup.

How long does this keep? Covered in the fridge, three days. After that it starts drying out. The cream cheese icing using cream cheese keeps it fresh longer than a buttercream would, but it’s not forever. Slice what you need, cover the rest tight.

Can I freeze it? Freeze the unfrosted cake, wrapped tight. Up to a month. Thaw at room temperature. Frost after. The frosting doesn’t freeze well — it gets grainy. Doesn’t work.

What if the frosting is too soft? Refrigerate it for 15 minutes. If it’s still sliding around, you either didn’t sift the powdered sugar or the cream cheese frosting got too warm. Add a tablespoon of powdered sugar and beat it in. Cold it is.

Do I have to use almond extract? No. Half a teaspoon of vanilla works. So does nothing. The almond does something specific — cuts the heaviness of the cream cheese. Vanilla is sweeter. If you skip both, it’s still fine, just different.

Can I use a different frosting? Sure. Buttercream works. Ermine frosting works. This cream cheese icing for carrot cake vibes works because almond extract and cream cheese go together in a way that feels intentional, not random. But if you hate cream cheese, don’t use it.

Why did my cake sink in the middle? Over-beaten eggs or too much baking powder. Or the oven temperature was off. A toothpick test at 38 minutes would’ve caught it before it baked too long. Next time, trust the visual cues — matte top, mostly clean tester — more than the timer.