Molasses Crumb Cake Recipe

All this talk of community cookbooks makes me want to post a favorite recipe. This recipe for Molasses Crumb Cake comes from Mary Edmonds, who I mentioned in the blog before last.

Many a morning I sat at the Edmonds' kitchen table, looking out over their fields, with Skaneateles lake in the far distance, and had a piece of this Molasses Crumb Cake before Clancy and I headed out to whatever construction or remodeling project we were working on.

This cake tastes just fine right out of the oven, but it gets heavier and tastes better after it sets a day. A spoonfull of whipped cream is real good with molasses cake, but not a necessity.

Molasses Crumb Cake

4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks margarine

Mix ingredients into crumb mixture. Take out one cup and set aside.

2 cups boiling water
1 cup dark molasses
1 tbsp baking soda

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add molasses and baking soda. Remove from heat and add to crumb mixture. Pour into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

Note: we eschew margarine in our family so Marlene uses butter. She also cuts back on the sugar and it still tastes just fine.