Greek Spice Cake

Wicked moist and very nicely spiced, this is not your typical spice cake. I am unsure as to what makes it Greek – none of the ingredients scream ‘opa!’ to me – but that is how Heather Abel named it in Taste of Home magazine, so that’s what it is.

Perhaps the original recipe called for using yogurt instead of buttermilk?

I did make two tiny changes to the recipe, one due to pantry supplies and the other to suit my own taste – they’re noted below.

INGREDIENTS
Cake:
•2-1/2 cups flour
•1 cup sugar
•1 cup packed brown sugar
•1 cup canola oil
•1 cup buttermilk
•3 eggs
•1 tbsp vanilla
•1-1/2 tsp almond extract
I was out, so used the zest of one lemon
•1-1/2 tsp baking powder
•1 tsp salt
•1 tsp ground cinnamon
•1/2 tsp ground cloves
•1/2 tsp allspice – I added this
•1/2 tsp baking soda
•1 cup chopped pecans
•Confectioners’ sugar

For the cake pan:
•1 tbsp flour
•1 tbsp oil
•1 tbsp solid shortening

Stir the shortening together with the tablespoon of flour and oil in a small bowl, then brush it evenly over your cake pan of choice. Forget about greasing and flouring the pan; this works a treat, and your cake will come out of the pan whole and without any white flour blotches. I am so confident in this concoction that I am thinking about buying one of those kinda cool and complicated cathedral pans.

Back to the cake…

Pan nicely brushed, heat your oven to 325°.

Mix the sugars together with the oil, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla until well blended.

Whisk the flour together with the baking soda, powder, salt, and spices in a bowl.

With the mixer on low, add the flour to the egg mixture gradually – I added it in 1/4 cup increments – then beat until well blended.

Stir in the pecans and turn the batter out into your prepared cake pan.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, then remove from the oven and let rest on a rack for 10 minutes.

Turn the pan over and pop out the cake – voilà! – you can see how nicely this miethod works.

Cool the cake completely, then dust it with confectioners’ sugar.

Nice cake.