McCall's Best Spice Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease well and flour two 8-inch round cake pans or a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Sift flour with baking soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, nutmeg and allspice. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, at high speed, beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes. Scrape bowl occasionally with rubber scraper. At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths), alternately with buttermilk (in thirds), beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat just until smooth; about 1 minute.

Pour batter into prepared pan; bake layers 30-35 minutes (bake 13x9-inch cake 40-45 minutes) or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertips. Cool in pans 10 minutes, remove from pans. Cool thoroughly on wire racks. Frost as desired.