For a lot of folks, there’s one seasonal fall flavor that no matter how hard you try, you can’t get enough of it — pumpkin spice.

We’re not just talking about Starbucks, which launched the pumpkin spice trend way back in 2003 with its Pumpkin Spice Latte and recently added a new Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso and Pumpkin Spice Chai to its seasonal drinks menu.

The distinctive autumnal spice mix that used to be associated only with pumpkin pie seems to have commandeered nearly every aisle in your favorite grocery store. Its warm, spicy flavors are found not just in desserts and baked goods but everything from beer, potato chips and cereal to pasta, popcorn and yogurt.

Me? I much prefer anything coffee flavored when the weather starts to cool and my backyard slowly morphs from green to a mix of brilliant reds and yellows.

This rich and easy coffee cake from “The Sugar and Spice Cookbook: Sweet Treats and Bakes to Enjoy as the Nights Draw In” by Francesca Huntingdon (Hamlyn, $27) is a great place to start.

When I say coffee cake, I don’t mean the sweet breakfast food with a crunchy streusel top. I mean a dessert cake that includes instant coffee among the ingredients not just in the batter but also the creamy icing.

It’s “old-fashioned” because it calls for margarine instead of butter. That old-school approach might sound unappetizing to some, but many of today’s margarines have been reformulated to have no trans fats and lower saturated fat. And because it has a higher water content and aerates better, it actually makes a lighter, fluffier cake.

In her cookbook, Huntingdon recommends using round pans and goes fairly light on the icing, with just a few dabs in between the layers and not a whole lot on top. I used 8-inch square pans and doubled the icing recipe for a completely frosted cake.

Melted chocolate is always fun to play around with when decorating a cake; if you make the cake toward the end of October, drizzle the melted chocolate in a spiderweb pattern to turn it into a spooky Halloween treat.

To melt chocolate for drizzling, heat it gently in the microwave in short 15- to 30-second bursts, stirring in between with a fork. I don’t have a pastry bag, so I piped the hot chocolate on top of the cake using a plastic storage bag with a tiny piece of the corner snipped off.

Old-fashioned coffee cake

For cake

6 ounces margarine (12 tablespoons), plus extra for greasing

6 ounces light brown or caster sugar (¾ cup)

6 ounces self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

3 teaspoons instant coffee, dissolved in 2 teaspoons boiling water

For icing

3 ounces butter, at room temperature

5 ounces confectioners’ sugar, sifted, divided

3 teaspoons instant coffee, dissolved in 2 teaspoons boiling water

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped and melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat all the cake ingredients in a mixing bowl or a food processor until smooth.

Divide the mixture evenly between two 8-inch pans, greased and lined with oiled wax paper, and spread the surfaces level.

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. Cakes should be well risen, browned and spring back when gently pressed with a fingertip.

Leave the cakes for a few minutes, then loosen the edges and turn out onto a wire rack and peel off lining paper. Let cool.

Make the frosting. Put butter and half the icing sugar in a mixing bowl, add dissolved coffee and beat until smooth.

Gradually mix in the remaining icing sugar until pale and creamy. (I added a little leftover brewed coffee to thin the icing to a spreadable consistency.)

Put one of the cakes on a serving plate, spread with half the frosting, then cover with the second cake.

Spread remaining frosting over the top.

Pipe or drizzle swirls of melted chocolate on top.

Cake can be stored in a tin for 2 or 3 days in a cool place.

Makes 1 cake.

— adapted from “The Sugar and Spice Cookbook”

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