Dixie Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting

In case you haven't noticed, we like to celebrate things at the office. We use pretty much anything as an excuse to have cake. This time it was Alison's birthday. She has gotten away with not celebrating her birthday for the last two years. I put a stop to that this year and she was a very good sport about it.

I really like spice cake. I think it has to be one of my favorite kinds of cake. It is also the only kind of cake I actually enjoy eating cream cheese frosting on. This particular spice cake was good, but I have definitely had better and will need to continue my search for the perfect spice cake recipe. The caramel frosting was very rich and was a nice change of pace from the cream cheese frosting you usually find it paired with.

Dixie Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting
(Source: Pillsbury Baking)

Cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Caramel Frosting:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Generously grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray; lightly flour.

2. In large bowl, beat all cake ingredients except walnuts with electric mixer on low speed until moistened, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter evenly in pan.

3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar. Cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk; cook until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. If needed, add a few drops of milk for desired spreading consistency. Spread over cooled cake.

Serves 24