Cardamom Spice Cake with Horchata Glaze

A soft spice bundt cake with a horchata glaze that's perfect winter.

Nothing says holiday to me like a spiced bundt cake. A cake like this is ready for sharing. And it's shaped like a wreath! But this isn't a basic spice cake. It also has a horchata inspired glaze which is what makes this crave-worthy and different. A traditional horchata is a drink made of either ground almonds or rice or a variety of other nuts or seeds. So don't skip the glaze! Try something new and I promise you'll like this.

For this recipe, the horchata glaze is made with Pacific Foods rice milk but the cake is also made with their almond milk! I basically picked my two favorite possible horchata bases and used both. You're allowed to do both. But that being said, I think this recipe would work just fine if you wanted to use, say, oat milk. This rice milk is naturally sweet with no added sugar while the almond milk has a distinct subtle roasted note. 

To see all of the non-dairy milks Pacific Foods offers check them out here!

I'm also really proud that we pulled off a 100% whole wheat flour cake that's so moist and fluffy (look at these cake slices!). The rest of the recipe is also going to be so awesome because you likely already have everything on hand! You get to avoid the packed grocery store! That's another reason I love Pacific Foods products like their nut milks: they're stored in slim profile, shelf stable packages. I like to keep my pantry stocked during baking (and iced coffee) season to streamline my shopping. You know how I love efficiency hacks.

And speaking of streamlining: this cake freezes really, really well. After a test recipe (and glaze!) I bagged it and froze it. I checked in on it a few hours later (and ate a slice, okay?) and it was so good. Possibly better than hot out of the oven. I have a feeling you could make the cake base and freeze to have on hand for last minute guests and glaze after. Then again it might not last that long if you have 'kitchen helpers' lurking about. 

Cardamom Spice Cake Horchata Glaze

Horchata Glaze

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 tablespoons Pacific Foods rice milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Spice Cake

• ¾ cup Sugar
• 1.5 Tablespoons Honey
• ½ cup Unsalted Butter, softened 
• 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon Instant Coffee and 2 T water
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
• ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1½ teaspoons Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon Cardamom
• 1 cup Pacific Foods almond milk

/// Directions /// Bring butter and eggs to room temperature. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a Bundt cake pan with butter and dust a bit of flour over the butter coating inside the bundt pan. Tap out any excess flour. In a mixer, cream together the sugar and honey and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and coffee and mix to combine. Scrape the batter around edge of the bowl and mix until batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture then alternate with ⅓ of the almond milk and continue until all is incorporated. Do not over mix. Pour batter in the greased and floured bundt cake pan and bake for 30-34 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Allow cake to cool at least 10 minutes in the pan before removing.

Mix glaze in a bowl until smooth. If a thicker more frosting like glaze is desired, add more powdered sugar. Garnish with extra powdered sugar if desired. 

Disclosure: This post is part of a partnership with Pacific Foods. You can see other recipes Pacific Foods has sponsored and whip them up this weekend by making our one pot chicken and artichoke cream pasta or triple ginger oatmeal cookies!