Molasses Spice Cake
Featuring the classic holiday baking spices of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, this Molasses Spice Cake is a delicious way to enjoy the season!
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One of my favorite Southern sayings is, “Slower than molasses in January.” Whenever you say this, you really have to drag it out with a nice, long drawl. Something like “Slower’n molllllaaaasssssses in Jan-u-ary.” I mean that’s a pretty descriptive phrase, right? You know exactly what I mean when I say it. Goal accomplished.
Molasses was extremely popular in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Sugar was expensive back then, and molasses was a much cheaper sweetener. Molasses is actually the by-product of sugar production. To make sugar, sugar cane or sugar beets are crushed and the juice is boiled to create sugar crystals. The leftover liquid? That’s right. Molasses.
Sugar is much cheaper these days, and molasses isn’t nearly as common as it was a hundred years ago. In fact, it sometimes can be hard to find in the grocery store. Every store is different, but I typically find molasses next to the pancake syrup. I feel like it should be in the baking aisle or perhaps next to honey – nope, it’s in the cereal aisle.
These days, that small jar of dark brown liquid is pulled out to make gingerbread cookies during the holidays, and then it’s returned to the back of the cupboard. Let’s pull that jar out and make something other than cookies! This Molasses Spice Cake is a fantastic way to celebrate the holiday baking season.
Molasses Spice Cake
In all fairness, this cake has a noticeable similarity to gingerbread. After all, this cake features many of the same flavors that I used in this Gingerbread Pound Cake. (That pound cake is still one of my all-time favorites for the holiday season!) This Molasses Spice Cake is a bit different, though.
While both cakes feature the same array of spices (notably ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and molasses), this Molasses Spice Cake holds them all back a bit. Don’t get me wrong – this cake is still packed with flavor! And while it is reminiscent of gingerbread, I put it squarely into the ‘spice cake’ category rather than gingerbread.
A good spice cake is quite tasty – especially when paired with a cup of coffee or tea after dinner. Heck, go ahead and pair it with coffee or tea for breakfast! It’s the holiday season, and you deserve to start the day off with cake!
This Molasses Spice Cake has holidays written all over it. As it bakes, this cake will fill your home with the cozy, familiar baking spices that we often associated with the holidays. Opening the door and walking into these smells is the perfect way to welcome in friends and family! Happy baking!
Did you bake this Molasses Spice Cake at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Molasses Spice Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
For the Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour a 12-14 cup Bundt pan; set pan aside.
- Using a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir until well combined. Set flour mixture aside.
- Using a countertop mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for 4-5 minutes, or until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add molasses, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves; beat on low speed until well combined.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add half of the flour mixture; mix until well combined.
- Add milk; mix until well combined.
- Add remaining flour mixture; mix until well combined.
- Transfer batter into prepared pan. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out mostly clean.
- Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire baking rack. Let cool completely before adding glaze.
For the Glaze
- Using a small bowl, whisk all of the glaze ingredients together until well combined. Drizzle over cooled cake.
Looking for more recipes with molasses? Check out these other favorites, too!
Nice! Just the kind of cake I’d love to have with my morning coffee. I love the combination of spices here.
And of course, the molasses. You’ve finally solved a mystery for me. I always wondered what exact *was* molasses anyway? Now I know! Making the stuff can be dangerous business. Have you heard of the “Great Molasses Flood”? If not, I’d suggest you Google it—it’s quite a story!
The Great Molasses Flood? I haven’t come across that story…I’m going to google it right now. Thanks for sharing, Frank! And, yes, this cake is absolutely fantastic with a cup of morning coffee!!
Dude – you are the king of pound cake! The crumb on this is simply spectacular! And LURVE the molasses addition! You are right, I was looking for molasses this weekend and couldn’t find any – either the store moved them or they are having distribution problems. When I get my hands on some, am tempted to make this – tho I might have to wait until lil S is in town cos I don’t trust myself around a whole pound cake! 🙂
Haha – I do love making pound cakes! I’ve loved ’em ever since I was a little kid, so it should come as no surprise that I enjoy making ’em now. This version with molasses was delicious! The baking spices in there make this cake perfect for the season, too.
Out of molasses, eh? Try hunting around the pancake syrup section – that’s usually where I find it even though I would put it in the baking aisle if I was organizing the store!
Cant wait to make this soo n for me for the cake can i use vegan butter and coconut milk and glaze can i use almond milk i never had molasses spice cake before perfect for my after office snacks love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
I can’t speak to the vegan butter and coconut milk, but I think they should work just fine. Give it a try and let me know what you think, Ramya! I’m not sure if molasses is readily available over in your area??
I’m glad to see you joining the “Holiday Season 2022” club, David! This cake looks particularly delicious – terrific moist and crumbly texture and flavour profile. This cake would be perfect to enjoy with a cup of coffee… But wait…oh no – you didn’t name it COFFEE CAKE? I’m shocked!
Oh, I’m squarely in Holiday Season 2022 here, Ben! 🙂 Any excuse to bake with my favorite baking spices is good for me. This cake is absolutely fantastic. The flavor is spot on for the holidays. But this isn’t a coffee cake, my friend. However – that does make me want to take these flavors and make a coffee cake out of them! Good idea!
Love the spices and use of molasses in this cake! The crumb looks incredible — save me a slice and a mug of coffee!
This cake is fantastic with a mug of coffee on a weekend morning – just sayin’. 🙂 Thanks, Michelle!
This is such a delicious cake, I can tell. I find that our Golden Syrup and Molasses are interchangeable in Ginger cake, one of our favourite cakes, and great for dessert too. I also love it with lemon icing, the tarte flavour marries perfectly with the sweet ginger. So many options. Enjoy.
You make a good point about golden syrup, Pauline. It’s not common here in the States, but from what I understand it would make a good substitution if molasses isn’t readily available down there. Ginger + lemon is a great combination. I love that in tea – so I should definitely try combining them in a recipe sometime soon!
I ran into the same issue recently when I was buying molasses for baked beans. I was in the baking isle and finally asked another shopper. She knew exactly where to find it! Now that I know where it is, I’ll need to buy more so I can make this cake! Perfect for the holidays.
Molasses really should be in the baking aisle! I don’t know anyone who pours molasses on their pancakes. I mean maybe that’s a thing? It still makes more sense in the baking aisle!! 🙂
Sounds really good, this will definitely taste like Christmas
This is a favorite in our house around the holidays – thanks, Raymund!
i love all those spices in a cake david. the crumb looks great, and so moist 🙂 Cardamom is such a winner for me, esp. in a sweet dish.
I hear ya, Sherry – I’ve become a huge fan of sneaking some cardamom in with the more traditional holiday baking spices. That extra little layer of flavor makes a big difference! This spice cake? Fantastic!! 🙂
This sounds like a really nice holiday cake. Thanks for the recipe!
This is a fantastic cake for this time of the year – thanks, Jeff!
A good piece of cake and a cup of coffee is the perfect way to start the day and yours sounds perfect, especially for this time of the year.
Oh you can say that again, Karen! And I think I might have Robbie interested in hot cocoa this year, so he can join us! 🙂