Gingerbread Cake with Molasses Frosting

Recently my dad came to me with an idea he saw online for a molasses frosting. He is a huge fan of molasses and since it's the holiday season and more treats have molasses I knew I had to come up with something good. Of course with frosting we need some cake. I used my classic vanilla cake recipe and substituted some of the sugar for molasses along with adding some spices to make a gingerbread flavor. A gingerbread cookie, along with being a slightly different texture than standard cookies, mostly just has molasses as some of the sugar and spices for flavor. It was an easy substitution since I have done honey subs before and molasses is similar to honey but with a little more water content. I also took some of the milk away to account for the added moisture in the molasses.

As for the frosting, I made a simple American buttercream with a good amount of molasses to get the strong flavor across. Since the frosting went with the cake and I wanted the molasses to stand out I didn't add any spices to the frosting, but if you want to use it in other treats a little cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger will really help it come to life and bring a whole new flavor. Check out the final recipe below! It makes a single 8-inch layer with a nice layer of frosting on top. Perfect for a smaller holiday celebration or for a nice snack to have around the house.

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Gingerbread Cake with Molasses Frosting

210g All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Ground Ginger

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

Pinch Salt

2 ea. Eggs

115g Granulated Sugar

100g Molasses

169g Unsalted Butter, soft

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

100g Milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, spices, and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla and molasses.

5. Keeping the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture then slowly add half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk, ending with the final 1/3 of flour.

6. Spread into a greased and parchment lined 8in cake pan.

7. Bake 40-50 min until center springs back when pressed.

8. Allow to cool before frosting.

Frosting:

55g Unsalted Butter, softened

80g Molasses

175g Powdered Sugar

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream with butter and molasses together.

2. Slowly add the sugar, one spoonful at a time until fully incorporated.

3. If the mixture is too thick, water can be added in 1 tsp amounts to soften.

4. Spread frosting over the top of the cooled gingerbread cake.

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