Southern Molasses Cake

Molasses. What a sweet word. Since I can remember, we've had a jar of Sorghum Molasses on our table right next to the honey and butter. I grew up in a small town just outside of Nashville, TN and this is something we take seriously in our family! My second cousins will drive 2 hours just to get an authentic jar of this thick, black stuff. It's hard to find in grocery stores, they'll try to sell you corn syrup or Black Strap molasses. While good in its own rights, this is not what we aim for, what we cook with, and what we slather our biscuits in five nights out of the week. 

Molasses can be put to use to make grits edible, to substitute sugar in oatmeal, to give meaning to a biscuit, or to bake with. My all-time favorite molasses recipe is the famous Molasses cookie, but we'll save that for another day. 

I came across this in a cookbook for Armour's Hotel in Red Boiling Springs, TN. It's one of the first recipes I found myself when I started to bake as a teenager. I'm hooked, it's in my collection forever. 

1 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

1 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1 1/2 tsp soda

2 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs, beaten separately

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream butter and sugar together, add molasses and water. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients thoroughly. Add flour mixture slowly while folding in. Add eggs, don't over beat. 
• Pour into well greased bundt pan. 
• Bake 30-40 min or until toothpick comes out almost clean. 
• Start sauce recipe 10 min before cake is done.
• Cool for 5 min, then turn onto serving platter. 
• Pour sauce over hot cake and serve! 

Sauce:

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup half and half

1/4 tsp each: Cinnamon, ginger, allspice. 

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. (Did you hear me? turn that burner down. ) Add sugar, stir until dissolved. Turn off heat, add spices and cream, mix well. 

Enjoy!

Cooking Tips:

• grease your measuring cup before putting the molasses in, or use Pampered Chef's Measure All Cup, great for sticky and thick things like Crisco or peanut butter. 
• If the cake is stuck and won't come out of the pan, freeze it then pop it out with a flexible spatula knife. (If this happens, reheat it before pouring sauce over it since it won't absorb it cold)