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1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-12 cup Bundt pan (I use Wilton's Cake Release and cakes slide out of their tin with ease!).
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2
Sift 2 3/4 cups cake flour with the cloves, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. Toss remaining 1/4 cup of flour with the raisins. Set aside.
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3
In a large bowl, beat at medium speed the butter until light creamy. Gradually add the sugar, 1/2 a cup at a time, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
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4
Blend the beaten eggs into the sugar mixture at medium speed, scraping the sides down using a rubber spatula.
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5
At low speed, alternately blend into the sugar-egg mixture the dry ingredients (in thirds) and the the buttermilk (in halves), beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat ONLY until blended; stir in the floured raisins by hand.
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6
Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan; bake at 60-65 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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7
Cool cake in pan, on wire rack, for 10 minutes. Gently loosen, with a dull knife, the edges of the cake; turn out cake onto a rack. Cool completely, about an hour. This is a large, moist cake that keeps very well.
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8
Serve plain, with a dusting of powdered sugar, an orange-flavoured glaze or orange-flavoured cream cheese frosting.
