Molasses Cake

This molasses cake is dense, richly spiced, and topped with salted caramel sauce that takes it over the top. Think gingerbread cake meets pound cake, perfectly balanced, not too sweet, and absolutely worth making.

This molasses cake is dense, rich, and generously spiced. The spices and molasses pair beautifully with the salted caramel sauce. The cake isn’t overly sweet and has hints of rich old-fashioned molasses cake.

The flavors are similar to this gingerbread cake, but the texture is 100% pound cake! It has a crunchy, caramelized exterior and a soft, tender interior. You are going to want to add this to your Christmas baking list along with fruit cake, sticky toffee pudding, and my stollen bread.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Unsalted Butter
• Granulated Sugar
• Large Eggs: The fat from the eggs creates a smooth batter and helps keep the cake texturally perfect.
• Molasses: I use unsulphured molasses for a milder, sweeter flavor. Blackstrap molasses works if you want something more robust and slightly bitter, but it’s intense. For reference, I use the unsulphured molasses in both my chewy molasses cookies and soft gingerbread cookies.
• All-Purpose Flour
• Kosher Salt
• Baking Soda:
• Spices: The mix of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice is classic for a reason. You can adjust based on what you have; more ginger for bite, less clove if you’re not a fan. You could also add some nutmeg or cardamom.
• Sour Cream: Like my chocolate pound cake, full-fat sour cream is essential here. It adds moisture and keeps the crumb tender without making it heavy. The acidity also balances the sweetness. You can use Greek yogurt, but the texture will be slightly different, less tangy, and a touch denser.
• Caramel Sauce

Variations

• Bake in different pans! This recipe works in a loaf pan, tube pan, or bundt pan. Adjust baking time accordingly.
• Add some mix-ins. Fold in some toasted pecans or walnuts for some added crunch. You could add some raisins or white chocolate, like in these gingerbread blondies, or dried cherries and orange zest, like in these cherry orange molasses cookies!
• Add a swirl. Like with my cherry almond bundt cake, you can add a swirl of cherry or cranberry jam to this cake.
• Top with a buttercream or change the glaze. This cake would be delightful with a cream cheese buttercream frosting or this caramel swiss meringue buttercream! Try topping it with a vanilla glaze or this cream cheese glaze from this red velvet pound cake.

Professional Tips

• Room temperature ingredients. Using room-temperature butter, eggs, and sour cream will aid in the mixing process and keep the batter emulsified. If your ingredients are straight from the fridge, your batter might separate. It won’t make for the best texture, but no one will know but you!
• Avoid over-creaming your butter and sugar. Cream your butter and sugar just until they form a paste. This is what gives you that dense pound cake crumb!
• Weigh your ingredients if you can. Pound cake is simple at a glance, but it is a delicate balance of ingredients. Eggs vary in size, and a cup of flour can vary by 50 grams. If you do measure by volume, fluff your flour in the bag, then spoon it into the cup, mounding it on the top. Use a knife to slice off the excess, but don’t tap or compress it.

How to Make Molasses Cake

Use these instructions to make this richly spiced molasses cake recipe! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Prep your pan:

Step 1: Oven and pan setup. Preheat the oven to 325°F (convection) or 350°F (conventional).

Step 2: Prepare your bundt pan. I spray my pan with cooking spray and then flour it. Tap the flour around until every inch is covered. Tap out the extra flour onto a piece of parchment on the counter. You should be left with a perfectly floured pan.

Make the cake:

Step 3: Dry ingredients blended. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and salt. Set aside.

Step 4: Butter and sugar structure. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until a thick paste is formed.

Step 5: Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after every two eggs or so.

Step 6: Add molasses and beat well.

When you add molasses to butter and eggs, it can curdle a bit. This is normal, and the cake will still come together beautifully.

Step 7: With the mixer on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients and sour cream in three additions, starting and ending with flour. Mix just until combined—don’t overmix.

Like with my sour cream pound cake, I don’t wait until all the flour has incorporated before I add the next batch. I just keep adding with two hands. Pro-style. I stop the mixer to add the last of the sour cream mixture, then scrape it all out with a rubber spatula.

Step 8: Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake and cool the cake:

Step 9: Bake in the preheated oven until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few clinging crumbs. This will take about 60–85 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine baked for 70 minutes.

Step 10: Cool the cake for 20 minutes in the pan, then loosen the edges with a paring knife and turn it out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

Step 11: Top with caramel sauce if desired. I warmed the sauce slightly in the microwave before pouring it over the top of the cake, so that it would be a thinner glaze, but you could leave thick drips if desired!

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this spiced bundt cake! Check out our other delicious winter dessert recipes, like cranberry cake or pear upside down cake.