I’ll admit I actually impressed myself with this cake. I’ve never made gingerbread anything before, and I’ve never cooked with molasses either. I was skeptical right up until the end. Okay, well not right up until the end – I did test the frosting as it was cooling in the skillet. We’ll just say it was love at first taste. You could put that frosting on a piece of tree bark and it would taste good. Seriously.

• 2-1/2c Thrive 6 Grain Pancake Mix
• 1/2c Thrive Brown Sugar
• 2T Thrive Whole Egg Powder
• 1t Ground Ginger
• 1t Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2t Thrive Baking Soda
• 1/2t Thrive Baking Powder
• 1c Molasses
• 2/3c Water
• 4T Thrive Butter Powder
• Vanilla Frosting
• Maple Extract
• Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a bundt pan. Combine pancake mix, sugar, whole egg powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine molasses, water and butter. Using a hand mixer, slowly add wet ingredients to dry. Mix for 3 minutes on low speed. Pour into greased bundt pan and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Before you make the frosting, you’ll have to decide if you want to frost the whole cake or just drizzle a little over the top. I chose to go the drizzle route, so double or triple the measurements if you would like more frosting. Add a cup of whole pecans to a zip top bag and smash them with a mallet. Put your smashed pecans in a skillet and toast them over medium heat, stirring constantly, until they start to smell all nutty and yummy (about 4 minutes). Turn off the heat and add 2/3c of vanilla frosting to the skillet. Stir gently until the frosting melts, then stir in 1t maple extract. Continue to stir until the frosting cools slightly, then spoon over the top of the cooled gingerbread cake. Dust with a few more smashed pecans.