Waking Earth Cake

Celebrate the first stirrings of spring with this unusual not-too-sweet cake, a tasty way to begin fortifying ourselves for the new season ahead. It is sweetened with iron-rich molasses instead of sugar, and it uses no dairy or eggs. In fact, you will be surprised at how anything with so few ingredients could taste so good! This adaptation of a simple recipe by Peaceful Cook Harriet Kofalk is a nourishing tonic for the last cold days of late winter.

You may want to top it with vanilla ice cream, a beautiful way to represent the snow covering this waking earth.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup un-sulphured molasses
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
optional: yogurt, ice cream or non-dairy frozen dessert

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.
In a large bowl, combine both flours and baking soda. Stir in the vegetable oil and the un-sulphured molasses. This mixture will resemble crumb topping. Remove 1 cup of it and reserve.
In a small bowl, combine the hot water and the blackstrap molasses. Add to the flour mixture remaining in the large bowl and mix well.
Pour batter into a greased 9-inch square baking pan, sprinkle with the reserved crumb topping, and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Serve warm, with a dollop of yogurt or vanilla ice cream, if you like