In addition to cookies and gingerbread, ever wonder what molasses tastes good in?! Cake! Specifically, this Molasses Marble Cake. Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and topped with a thin cream cheese frosting, this cake is delicious and as homemade tasting as they come!
As a food nerd (you might be one too if you’re reading this), I get excited thinking and talking about molasses! This syrupy byproduct of the sugar making process is one of those special ingredients because of it’s strikingly dark color and standout smell and taste.
Molasses has a sweet, warming flavor which explains why it starts to show up more in recipes in fall and winter. It goes so well the equally warming, spicy flavors of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg that are also in this recipe! You’ll love how the cake tastes with creamy, sweet cream cheese frosting!
In addition to an amazing taste, this cake is also stunning and fun to make. If you’ve never marbled a cake before, you’ll love how easy it is. It makes a fancy looking cake without the need for a difficult technique or special equipment.
You’ll start preparing the cake as you would with most cakes by creaming the butter and sugars and adding the eggs and dry ingredients. The most important thing to remember when making this cake (this goes for me as well since I forgot once) is to make sure to hold off adding the molasses and spices until after you’ve divided your batter!
Once you have your two batters, you just drop the batter into a checkerboard patter. Take a knife to swirl from one end to the other. Rotate the pan a quarter turn and, with a clean knife, swirl again and that’s it.
The cream cheese frosting is simple and only takes a few minutes to whip together. I made it with an in between consistency here because I wanted a creamier topping. This cake is also so pretty with just a thin drizzle of icing which allows the marbled top to show.
Molasses IS sold year round, so I think this Molasses Marble Cake might make me crave molasses in the spring and summer as well!
Molasses Marble Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 cake 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweetened with molasses and brown sugar and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, you’ll love this easy, delicious, from scratch Molasses Marble Cake recipe!
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
FOR THE ICING
- 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 teaspoons milk
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9 x 5′ loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy (about two minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Alternatively add the dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Once mixed together, divide the batter into two bowls. Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and molasses to one half of the batter.
- Alternatively drop a tablespoon of each of the batters in a checkerboard pattern. Once you finish the first layer, drop tablespoons of the other batter on top of each of the first squares. You should have two layers of about 5 rows of three.
- To marble the cake, gently run a knife through the batter using a swirling motion. Bake 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick when inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Place the cake on a rack to cool in the pan for ten minutes and then remove the cake from the pan and allow to cool on the rack.
FOR THE ICING
1. Blend the butter and cream cheese in a bowl. Beat in the vanilla and add the powdered sugar a bit at a time. Add the milk and blend until smooth.
Notes
Add more milk to the icing for a thinner consistency or more powdered sugar for a thicker consistency, if desired.
Keywords: molasses, cake, cream cheese, powdered sugar, icing, cinnamon, dessert