I sometimes daydream about spending a day holding a sign, perched on some sort of stoop at the base of a freeway off ramp. Totally random daydream, right? My daydream sign holding isn’t about begging for money or protesting a cause. No. My signs are much more silly and benign.
In my daydream I hold a variety of signs (might as well rotate them, right!?) that say things like:
Honk if you like my bangs.
Peace is awesome. Bombs are stupid and ugly.
My thighs and skinny jeans are not friends.
Will work for Spice Cake.
… you know… signs like that… signs that are open and honest and for strangers to smile at.
Wait…. is this a weird daydream? This is totally a weird daydream. Forget I mentioned anything.
Let’s just talk about cake.
Yes, lemon and spice cake is an untraditional combination. I really like how a bit of lemon brightens up a spice cake situation.
There are some hidden bits about this cake that aren’t described in the naming of the cake. This spice cake is free of butter and eggs. If you substitute the buttermilk for soy milk, then you’ve got a happy vegan cake. Bonus!
Because the super binding eggs and butter are missing, this cake may be a touch more crumbly than you might be used to. It’s still light and moist and oooh so delicious. Heck yes.
Lemon Glazed Spice Cake with Whipped Cream
Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (you can use 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour if you don’t have wheat flour)
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup almond oil (or any lightly colored oil)
1 cup buttermilk (if you’d like to make this vegan, use soy milk instead of buttermilk. also add a splash of white vinegar to the wet ingredients)
Lemon Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 8×8-inch baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
In a smaller bowl whisk together the oil, buttermilk (or soy milk and a splash of vinegar) and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Fold together until the ingredients are well combined, but not overmixed.
Spread batter out into baking pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, assemble the lemon glaze. Mix the powdered sugar with the lemon until smooth and loose enough to drizzle easily.
When cake is done baking, remove it from the oven and use a toothpick or fork to dot holes in the warm cake. While the cake is still warm, slowly drizzle it with lemon glaze, spreading out the glaze to create a coating that will dry and harden slightly.
Let cool to room temperature and serve topped with slightly whipped cream.
margoadler
Delicious cake. I make it all the time, but I always have to remind myself to add the sugar because it’s not included in the instructions. One time I actually forgot it entirely and the result was pretty horrendous. I usually whisk it in with the wet ingredients, but I’m sure it would work with the dry too.
Medyum Medyum
My thighs and skinny jeans are not friends either! But my sweet tooth does not help the situation one bit! Ahh well! Loving your crazy daydream – so cute! medyum
Mary Ann
I forgot the sugar! I forgot the sugar! It’s in the ingredient list but I can’t find it in the instructions so I just forgot to put it in. So, I made it again. And then it fell. I’m not having a good baking day! But, I’m going to take it to work anyway – I’m sure it’s delicious.
jules
eating a piece of this cake right now…going for seconds…great recipe!
monkey
I just tried this and it tasted sooo good! :D
I’m just wondering if it’s supposed to be moist in the middle?
Thank you so much for your recipes and I love your blog! So happy I came across it ^^
Oralea
This looks fabulous! I’m putting it together and I see 1 cup sugar in the ingredient list but not in the instructions. I assume I mix it together with the dry ingredients… but I’m such a novice baker, I’m not sure!
anna
Dearest Joy,
I am lusting after that wood slice you’ve been using recently… where is it from?
Amy
I love spice cake and lemon cake, so I’m very excited to see what the combination of the two will be!
Amy
Megan @ LittleBellaBean
Gasp!!! I was looking at your pretty picture of the cake all cut and ready to eat on the china plate, and thought, “Hmmm, that looks like MY china, but mine has red edges.” I looked closer and it IS my china but yours has green edges while mine has red! It is the exact same pattern! I got a giant set at an antique store for dirt cheap, and I love love LOVE it! How strange to see it in a variation, on a blog!
Very cool.
-Megan
Kristen D.
tell us the name, please!!!
Sarah Jackson
I’ve got some signs for you…
Can I have that cute green dish?
Thanks.
Can I have some cake?
Thanks.
-Sarah
Maggie
Just gave this recipe a go and loved it! I’ve been clumsy with baking recently so I needed a good easy pick-me-up to get me back on the horse.
Thanks for a tasty recipe!
Food Hunter
yes, its a very untraditional combination but it sounds great!
CookiePie
Glaze AND whipped cream – this is why I love you!!!
Lori
the sign ideas are halarious. love it.
Andrea
I want some of that right now! Your pictures are always so mouthwatering!
Anna@BakingSimplicity
This looks soo good, will definitely try this recipe.
Ida ghassemi
yummy!! cant wait to try the recipe!
Whitney
Joy- You are incredibly good at reading my mind. If I think pumpkin, you’ve got it. If I think spice cake, you’ve got it. Mmm. I need to get baking this week.
Terresa Wellborn
Signs, yeah. A shameless guy on the corner near our house (in suburban Las Vegas, can you picture it?) holds a sign advertising colonics. It’s on a guitar shaped, yellow sign and he dresses up as Elvis. Every day. And gets paid handsomely, I’d expect. I’m tempted to stop & interview him sometime. I wonder if he’d mind?
PS: yes, I’d eat this lemon spice cake. And even ask for seconds.
Chaitali
Skinny jeans? I haven’t dared stuff my ginormous thighs (and butt) into those things. Some things are just not gonna happen.
But this spice cake, on the other hand, is totally gonna happen. My vegan bf is coming over to visit this weekend and this would be the perfect end to a simple romantic dinner. Thanks Joy!
Samantha
I just made this about an hour ago and now it is completely gone. My family LOVED it. So delicious.
Pat
I love the signs of your daydreams. The cake sounds divine, esp with the lemon & whipped cream. I also love the green baking dish & tester…doesn’t everyone? Please let us know where the dish came from before we all attack Santa! :-)
Nicki
Joy! This looks delicious, as usual. Your recipes make my kitchen a very happy place!
Like many others, I am in love with that beautiful baking dish! Pretty please tell me where I can get one for my very own!
Astrid
Lemon brightens up any situation. So this combination is not odd to me. It looks delicious. I would like a piece, please! Yum!
Shannon @ bakeandbloom.com
Glaze, it’s fun to say & good to eat. Don’t you even talk about your thighs missy! I have put on like 3kg since I started reading your blog. :)
Olivia
hell yes! I’m a poor graduate student in the midst of finals/papers season, with no glimmering hope of getting to the grocery store any time soon to re-stock on butter and eggs. so what do you throw my way? a butterless, eggless baked good to soothe the tired brain and warm the heart on a slushy, snowy day. YUM. you rock.
Kadie
I stumbled upon your blog while searching for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. Since subscribing, I have baked something at least twice a week – all with rave reviews from my husband & kids – and have gained 5 pounds. I, too, am no friend of skinny jeans (no, not even my ankles look good in them!). I just wanted to tell you how much fun I’m having in the kitchen, thanks to you!!
Joy
Joy!!! haha my name is Joy too btw! lol I tried this recipe just now on a whim and it was absolutely amazing!! I was a little skeptical after I had put it in the oven and realised that the recipe didn’t call for any SUGAR! but after I punched the holes in it and glazed it, I waited for all of about 2 minutes and dug straight in…I was shocked at how moist, soft, and YUMMY it was! It really didn’t need any sugar and all the spices blended together amazingly! Thanks so much for this recipe and for contributing to my gym session today going down the drain ;) haha
Sarah
The cake looks great, but I am really in love with that dish! Tell us who made it! Please!
2frugalfoodies
This looks scrumptious. Also, let’s play “I Spy.”
My turn – I spy a ceiling fan (Maybe?) and someone standing on a chair.
Cool photo!
Heidi
Oh wau, I could totally use this for one of this marketing team’s meetings as our leader is vegan. Finally she could also enjoy my bakings! :)
Kourtney
Joooooooooooy! Why must you do this to me (and my thighs?)!! This looks delicious!
Erica Lea
That sounds delicious and fresh. I really like your cake pan and tester. And your daydreams are hilarious!
bekah
haha, i love all the people who are obsessed with your cake plate and tester. confession: i did not notice them the first run through. but i just had to say…you always make me smile, and i really love the idea of holding surprising signs on the side of the road. think how many people’s day you could make just by sitting there!
andrea
Sounds yummy Joy! I have a square baking dish that looks a lot like yours. Not QUITE as cute…but close. I purchased mine @ Sur La Table..
Autumn
Ooooh yum. I love all sorts of spice cakes and have been filling my recipe e-mail folder with all sorts of recipe. Add lemon glaze and whipped cream? I’m sold.
Evie
Love the cake pan!
Kristen D.
JOY! That is THe plate. The one I’ve been asking you about! Please, please flip it over and tell me the name so I can scour eBay for my very own, please, please, please!
Melanie
I love vegan-adaptable cake recipes! Thanks! Also, I absolutely adore that cake pan, it’s great that you don’t need to remove the cake from the pan afterwards to serve it!
Erika from The Pastry Chef At Home
You’re right, lemon definitely brightens up a lot of recipes. This cake sounds marvelous.
That last photo with the whipped cream looks sooo delicious. I like anything topped with a dollop of whipped cream.
Natalie
This looks and sounds great! I love adding lemon to everything, it really does help brighten the flavor.
The Dallas ‘sign holders’ arent very clever, but those guys in San Francisco were. I think my favorite one was ‘Bet you will look at this sign, now you owe me 1$’!
Supermommie
My thighs and skinny jeans are not friends either. As a matter of fact, I’m gonna unfriend skinny jeans on facebook.
Heather @ chiknpastry
Dude… need I say more?
ps – love that spify green plate. i want it.
Casey
Looks yummy!
Sam
I LOVE your blog. I find it so inspiring and the fact that you are self taught even makes it better! Im 22 and baking brings me so much happiness. It’s one of the few things that relaxes me. I’ve already made a list of your recipes that i can’t wait to make! This one is definitely getting added to the list! :)
Rebecca @ Thyme for Wine
Bwahahha! ! Your intro was hilarious! HONK IF YOU LIKE MY BANGS! I love this simple cake recipe because sometimes I don’t feel like spending a lot of time on dessert. Thanks for sharing!!
Gwen
I just ordered that cake tester from crate and barrel! Happy early Christmas to me! The cake looks delicious
Colleen
yes, please tell us if you remember where you got the amazing green baking dish! I love it!
Tigli
This looks really yummy, I love spice cakes…
Where’d ya get your cupcake cake tester? Bakerella has the same one on her most recent post. Too cute, I must get one!
Betsy
In my family (mom’s side), we have a gingerbread recipe that is always ALWAYS served with lemon sauce. So spice + lemon sounds normal together. The cake looks great and I love the baking dish!
Estela @ Weekly Bite
This looks freaking awesome! Love the whipped cream addition!
Kel
You make me laugh! I have dreamt of holding a sign that says “Will work for shoes.”
I work with a team from India. I am so happy when I can bring a treat for everyone, and declare “It is eggless. Enjoy!”
I will need to make 2 of these!
Thanks as always!
Linds
Cake plate and serving plate are a perfect pairing! Beautiful colors. Anyway you’d show photos of your kitchen sometime? I love food blog photos, but they always make me want to pan out a bit and see the whole kitchen. It’s fun to see what different sorts of spaces we throw our flour around in!
Megan
I have that same cake tester! Super cute and so helpful.
peachkins
Perfect for the holidays…love the plate
Teresa
LOVE LOVE LOVE that green baking dish! Any chance you remember where you acquired it and if it’s available on the mass market :) Not that I need another baking dish. I’m pretty sure my hubby is going to disown me if I buy more dishes…and flipflops, but that’s another story entirely!
Shushmi
My thighs and skinny jeans are not friends either! But my sweet tooth does not help the situation one bit! Ahh well! Loving your crazy daydream – so cute!
Love your recipes! xxx
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is
I love the whipped cream addition!
Karen B
Weird daydreams? Nah. I like weird daydreams (and the cakes that follow) :)
marina mott
Look stunning! Delicious!!
toni
It looks so simple yet so hearty! Definitely comfort food for me!
Rachael@SpachetheSpatula
Yet another one of your recipes I will have to add to my “to bake” list, Joy. It looks wonderful :]!
VeggieGirl
BEAUTIFUL treat!
Silvia
I’ve seen in the photo that you have a special skewer, lovely, I have to make do with a simple wooden one.
Keep on baking and thank you!