italian dessert recipes

Spice Cake Recipe

"Made with dark beer!"


This spice cake recipe is given a boost by dark beer. This cake is dense. It's not like a Betty Crocker cake mix. spice cake recipe



There is a teeny tiny bit of anise called for in this recipe. BUT you can skip it if you want. Anise is just an Italian cake thing we do. Well really, we put it in more than just cakes. It's a standby in many of our Italian dessert recipes. Just remember you're the cook. What you say goes! If you don't want it, this cake will turn out fantastic with the flavoring from the molasses, beer and ginger. The anise just gives it that distinct Italian flavor.

There are many substitutions you can work with. They are listed below.



Thanks for visiting my site. I began posting my recipes in September of '09. And lo and behold I've had enough visitors to at least pay for a few eggs and flour. Yep, I finally get get paid for writing and building this lil site. Kinda nice since I hated my previous jobs! :-) Please come back often. You can book mark the "What's New" page. It shows the recipes I add every few days.


Spice Cake Recipe

YIELD: One dense spice cake

Ingredients:

* 1 cup of dark beer (Guinness type)- finish the rest while you are cooking. Don't waste!

* 1 cup of molasses

* 2 teaspoons baking powder

* 3 eggs

* 1 cup of soft brown sugar

* 1 cup of vegetable oil

* 2 cups flour

* 2 tablespoon of (powdered) ginger.

* 1 teaspoon anise extract (TOTALLY OPTIONAL!)

* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

* 2 teaspoons of cinnamon

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure

* Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

* Combine beer and molasses in a saucepan. Bring to boil.

* Pull the pan off of heat. Add the baking powder and watch it foam. Wait till it's done foaming.

* In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and the sugar until they are pale.

* Add the oil and whisk till all is combined and then add to beer mixture. * Add SIFTED dry ingredients - and whisk together.

* Pour into bundt or tube pan.

* Bake for 50-60 minutes. Till skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

* Wait at least 20 minutes before trying to get this guy out of the pan.








Does it HAVE to be a dark beer?

Well it sure does flavor nice. And you did want a spice cake recipe, right? Really I think any beer would work. I've made this spice cake recipe with a light beer and nothing catastrophic happened.


Do I have to use anise?

Nope. Just leave it out. You can substitute nutmeg or cinnamon for it if you wish


Looking for toppings or icings for this?

The absolute best would be to use:

Orange Glaze


But if you don't want to make that there a few other things that would work:
  • Melted Orange Marmalade


  • Candied Orange Peel


  • Powdered sugar dusting




  • I hope you try a couple of the Italian dessert recipes on this site.

    I love to cook and share my recipes. Thanks for stopping by!

    Back to the top of the spice cake recipe.











    
    Lisa Gianotti

    Memorial Day and Warmer Weather Treats!



    It's finally warming up! In my neck of the woods we had SNOW on May 2nd. Now were on to the warm weather sweet treats!

    I started celebrating by having a Sangria last night. Sangria is so easy to make - and the trick to making it spectacular is - following the super easy procedure. IF you need a brush up see:

    How to Make Sangria

    As for Memorial Day Goodies - I bake the LESS sticky stuff if I have to travel. And something that the kids can grab with their fingers as they cruise by the dessert table and run off to their next game. Cookies and brownies work the best for this!

    The past month, these are my top five most viewed cookie recipes:

    #1 Anisette Cookies

    #2 Italian Wedding Cookie Recipe

    #3 Pizzelle Recipe

    #4 Ricotta Cheese Cookies

    #5 Meringue Cookie Recipe

    Have a fun filled Memorial Day!



    Lisa


    Would you like to share this page? You know how to do it! Thanks for sharing the sugar love!








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    Recipes on this site are from family cookbooks, family traditions, or intentional adaptations from traditional recipes to add an Italian flair. If a recipe was adapted or used from another cook - it is mentioned on the recipe page and the recipe author is given credit.