Welcome back, fall. We have missed you. Colored leaves and cool air mean it’s time to bake these mini Maple Spice Cakes with Maple Glaze. These cakes are baked in an acorn cakelet pan for extra cuteness and are full of delicious fall flavors.
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It’s hard to let fall go by without making these sweet little cakes flavored with real maple syrup and our favorite spice mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Serve these cakes with your favorite hot cuppa coffee, tea, or cider, they are always a hit at parties, but we enjoy them as a sweet snack.
The Cakelet Pan
What you can find on the discount shelf tucked behind Halloween candy is amazing. All I had to do was move several bags of Tootsie Rolls to find this Nordic Ware Acorn Pan, it was just way too cute to pass up, and it was half off. I just couldn’t pass it up, could you?
I love this pan because it’s heavy-duty cast aluminum, and the cakes come out perfectly. Just make sure you prep it with cooking spray, and you will end up with all the nice acorn details that even a squirrel would appreciate. The recipe for the spice cake comes with the pan for an extra bonus.
Update: I am so sad that this acorn pan is no longer available, but you can still make acorns and other fall designs with this Autumn Delight Cakelet Pan.
Maple Spice Cake Ingredients
This recipe is the one that came with the pan, with just a few tweaks. I added more cinnamon and nutmeg, plus ground ginger, because I love these warming spices.
How To Make Maple Spice Cakes
Be prepared to use several bowls for this recipe
Prepping the cake pan
Step 1. Heat the oven and prepare the cake pan. Even though this is a nonstick pan, I still spray cooking spray in each mold, then use a pastry brush to brush all over the mold to get in all the nooks and crannies.
Spoon flour into each mold and shake the pan until the molds are covered in flour. Then, turn the pan over to remove the excess flour.
Take a paper towel and wipe the top of the pan to clean up any oil or flour that has spread over the top.
Prepare the batter
Step 2. Prepare the batter ingredients. Place the softened butter and the brown sugar in a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.
Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to a small bowl and mix well.
Add the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla to another small bowl. Stir together.
Step 3. With the mixer on medium speed, mix the butter and sugar for a minute until they are nice and creamy.
Step 4. Beat in the eggs one at a time at medium speed to combine.
Step 5. Add half of the flour mixture and beat on medium speed to incorporate. Then add the liquid ingredients, beat again to incorporate, and add the remaining flour mixture.
Step 6. Mix the batter for a minute until it is mixed and thick.
Step 7. Spoon one tablespoon of batter into the molds.
Step 8. With the back of a spoon, spread the batter a little bit to get into the mold.
This batter bakes up perfectly in this pan. It is dense, so it is easy to remove the cakes from the pan, but it is still nice and moist.
Step 9. Bake the cakes at 350 degrees F. for 12 minutes. The cakes will puff up when baked and should pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the cakes cool slightly, then insert a knife into the side of each mold to loosen the cakelets. They should pop out easily.
Tip: I like to use a plastic knife, so I don’t scratch the pan.
Making the powdered sugar glaze
Step 10. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and water in a small bowl, and mix up the glaze until it’s smooth.
Step 11. With a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the entire top of the acorn cake.
Step 12. Dip just the top of the cake into a bowl filled with raw sugar.
Step 13. Set the cakes on the cooling rack to let the glaze dry.
Step 14. Store the cakelets in an airtight container for up to three days. Or freeze unglazed cakes for up to three months.
Bake a batch of these awesome little acorn cakes for a family gathering, fall party, Halloween party, or just because it’s fun to eat these sweet and cute as-can-be acorns.
Cake questions?
Use a mini cupcake pan if you don’t have a cakelet pan. Just spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into the pan and bake for about 10. Let the cakes cool and drizzle with the glaze.
These are pans with pretty designs that make mini cakes or cakelets.
Thanks to Cynthia Becker for trying this recipe and making these maple cakelets. Here’s her tray of pretty acorn cakes. They look amazing.
Try More Fall-Baking Treats
- This recipe for Apple Cider Baked Apples is a stunning dessert that is filled with cranberries and pecans. Serve with a sweet cider syrup for a delicious fall treat.
- Baking this easy Orange Cranberry Bread filled with nutmeg and cardamom spices. This is a One Hot Oven reader favorite.
- Everybody loves these colorful maple syrup-flavored Autumn Leaf Sugar Cookies. Bake a batch for your fall party or Halloween.
- Pop a batch of popcorn and make this crunchy, easy homemade Caramel Apple Popcorn for a party, movie night, or for a snack.
- If you love maple, try this rustic Maple Apple Skillet Cake for a tasty fall dessert.
- Maple Walnut Muffins have a delicious streusel topping and cinnamon icing on top.
- Browned Butter Blondies with toasted pecans are rich and chewy.
More Cakes To Make And Bake
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Maple Spice Acorn Cakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup AP flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon maple extract optional
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1-2 tablespoons water
- Turbinado sugar This is also called raw sugar.
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Oil the pan or use cooking spray in each mold. Using a pastry brush, brush all around the molds to make sure they are covered. Then add flour to each mold and shake that around to cover. Tap the pan to loosen the flour that didn't stick and tap that flour out of the pan.I like to take a paper towel and go around the top of the pan to clean it of any excess oil and flour.
For the cakes
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a small bowl.
- Combine the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and maple extract in a small bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl beat the room temperature butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time at medium speed. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- At low speed, beat in half the flour mixture then add the milk mixture and beat on low speed to incorporate. Next, add the remaining flour mixture and beat on medium speed until thoroughly mixed. Scrape the sides of the bowl. The batter is done and should be nice and thick.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of the batter into each acorn well. I like to take the back of a small spoon and spread the batter out to make sure it will fill the molds when baked.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12 – 14 minutes.
- Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan then remove the cakelets to a cooling rack. They should easily pop out of the pan by sticking a small knife into the side of the mold to pop it out.
- Make the next batch of cakes as directed above.
Preparing the glaze
- In a small bowl mix all the glaze ingredients using only 1 tablespoon of water and mix until smooth and has the consistency of heavy cream. If the glaze is too thick, add the extra water.
Decorating the acorns
- Place the raw sugar in a small bowl.
- With a pastry brush, brush each acorn with the glaze and then dip the top of the acorn into the sugar. Set the acorn cakes on a sheet of wax paper to dry.
Storage
- Store the cakelets in a single layer in an airtight container for up to three days.
- You can also freeze unglazed cakelets in a single layer in a freezer container for up to three months. Let thaw at room temperature then glaze and decorate as instructed.
Notes
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Nutrition
First published: Nov 6, 2016. Last updated: September 14, 2024, for better readability and updated step-by-step instructions.
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About Jere’
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
I made the for a Thanksgiving gathering. They were a big hit.♥️. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thanks for the kind comment. I love these cakes too!
These came out pretty well. Had some pin holes , I believe it was from the floured greased pan. I made mini cupcakes as well and they were perfect. I did not use maple extract, but they could have used it. Nice recipe, takes a lot of dishes.
Would recommend the recipe.
Thanks for letting me know you made the spice cakes. I always get those pinholes too which is annoying because they do take away to pretty appearance of the cakelets. And, that is a great idea to make mini cupcakes as well. I will be trying those.
I recently purchased the NordicWare Leaflettes Cakelet pan and found your recipe to try it out. So amazing and delicious.. thank you for the inspo!
I love the leaflets pan and glad the recipe worked for you.