Old-Fashioned Raisin Spice Cake

Make a simple and delicious raisin spice cake with this vintage inspired recipe.

Basic pantry ingredients combine for a lovely cake that is delicious and perfect for serving as a snack with afternoon or as a dessert plain or with toppings.

This easy recipe needs time to bake and cool but the actual making of the batter is simple and great for days spent at home.

Easy to Make But Needs Time

This cake is easy to make with very basic ingredients, however, it needs time to bake and cool. Plan ahead so that it’s ready for any occasion this will be served.

It keeps incredibly well so feel free to bake it up a day or two in advance.

Basic Ingredients

The great thing about most any vintage recipe is that the ingredients are simple and flavorful. You likely already have everything you need to make this in your pantry if you do any baking on a regular basis.

Spice Choices

There is quite a bit of spice in this recipe, 2 Tablespoons total. I went with cinnamon and ginger as those are favorites in our house. You could easily choose any spice or combination of spices you enjoy instead.

Pumpkin pie, apple pie spice would work just fine if you want to go with those. Something like cardamom, nutmeg, clove, etc. would work, just use what you like and have on hand.

Buttermilk

You can use buttermilk from the grocery store but you can also sour milk if you don’t have buttermilk on hand.

To sour milk, simply put 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in your measuring cup, add regular milk to make 1 cup and let sit for about 5 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.

Powdered buttermilk also works, just follow the instructions for baking on the canister.

Raisins or Other Dried Fruit

I obviously chose basic dark raisins for this recipe. I think golden raisins would also be amazing here if you have those on hand.

Dried cranberries or other dried fruit chopped into small pieces would also likely be quite tasty.