Shoofly Cake - Recipe from Wanda Brunstetter's Amish Friends Desserts Cookbook

I made this cake from Wanda Brunstetter's Amish Friends Desserts cookbook yesterday. It is egg and dairy free, and smelled absolutely divine while it was cooking.

I love when cakes smell good while they are cooking, don't you? It announces to the world that there is a treat to be had. Sometimes cakes smell so good while they are cooking, that you hope they taste as good as their smell. Let me assure you, this cake DOES taste as good as it smells. The recipe is after the jump.

My brother can attest to this verdict, as his habit is to say "its alright" when he's asked whether he likes something. He, on this occasion, said ... wait for it ... "its good". GOOD. This brought a smile to my face, because when my brother says something is 'good', it is really good. If it wasn't, he would have said it was 'alright'.

The cake is deliciously light and moist.



Shoofly Cake

1 cup light (mild) molasses
2¼ cups boiling water
1 tablespoon baking soda
¾ cup vegetable oil
4 cups flour
1 pound light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F (180C). Combine molasses, boiling water, and soda. In separate bowl, mix oil, flour, and brown sugar until mixture resembles crumbs. Reserve 1 cup crumbs for topping. Stir remaining crumbs into molasses mixture and pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Top with reserved crumbs. Bake 40 to 45 minutes.

Marie Martin
Ephrata, Pennsylvania


Note:

I substituted white sugar for brown (because I didn't have brown sugar in the pantry) and halved the amount of sugar used. You don't miss the sugar, because the syrup provides the sweetness.

I also substituted Golden Syrup for the light Molasses (I am unaware of being able to buy light molasses in Australia).

The cake, in my large square pan took longer than 45 minutes, so I set the timer in increments of 10 minutes and kept testing it until the tester came out clean.