lollybanger

This post came about because of Says You and their passion for strange vocabulary words. And my enjoyment of that show and a similar passion for words.

So I had the blog title and the molasses, but no recipe! I didn't want to just link to something, so I did a little digging and came across a recipe that was a little... lacking in direction. The icing also took the cake (pun intended).

Anyway, here's the easier-to-read version. And slightly adapted.

2/3 c molasses
2/3 c dark brown sugar
¼ c unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1½ c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
2 t ground ginger
¼ t ground cloves
¼ c candied ginger, chopped
½ c raisins
2/3 c boiling water

¼ c unsalted butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 t vanilla 
1½ c powdered sugar
2-3 T candied ginger, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 350ºF. 

Butter and flour a 9" square pan.

Cream brown sugar and butter in a mixer, adding molasses and egg once the butter-sugar mixture is fluffy. Sift dry ingredients (flour through cloves) together and add to wet mixture. Once combined, add candied ginger, raisins and boiling water.

Pour batter into prepared pan, tap gently on counter to release air bubbles and bake 35 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix your frosting. Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and then sugar until desired consistency. Beat in ginger last. Frost the cake when it's completely cool.

My notes: Man is this good. The little bits of candied ginger in the frosting give it a little bit of pop and keep it from being too sweet. The raisins plump up perfectly, so don't worry about them being too dehydrated beforehand. I used sorghum for this batch, but I don't mind a darker taste, so next time I'll use molasses (and maybe even the 'regular' kind!). Mine took only 35 minutes to bake and it did sink in the middle once out of the oven. The ginger bits will be more pronounced the next day, so if you're not a huge fan, be aware of this.