Martha Monday

Welcome to the first edition of Martha Monday! In my quest to learn how to cook, bake and garden, I've developed a fascination with all things Martha Stewart. It started with clipping a few recipes out of a Martha Stewart Living magazine. Then I discovered the Martha Stewart show on television thanks to TiVo. I just adore her lessons on crafting, cooking and appreciating the "good things" in life.

I recently stumbled onto the wonderful Martha and Me blog, where the author attempts to incorporate Martha's homekeeping tips in her everyday life. On a whim, I decided to join the blog's Martha Mondays group. Each week, I'll try a new Martha project and share my results with all of you.

This week's project is molasses spice cake. I was sold on this recipe the first time I saw it. Molasses, cream cheese frosting and caramel topping, how could I not fall in love?

With all the canning and bread-baking I've been doing lately, it was such a treat to make a cake from scratch. And it seemed very old-fashioned, in a way. No multiple layers. Just a simple round cake.

The cake baked up beautifully, and the spices smelled so good right out of the oven. I found the recipe yielded way too much cream cheese frosting, so I took a couple tablespoons of frosting off the top. The caramel topping was amazing; I wanted to dip an apple in it.

My husband couldn't wait until I took the picture before digging into the cake.

However, I have to admit that this cake was just "OK" for me. The molasses flavor was a little strong, and I couldn't find fresh ginger in my small-town grocery store, so I had to add the powdered stuff. But still a show-stopping cake. Can't wait for next week's project!