Every other year we spend Halloween in Tampa. I love it. The evening kicks off with a potluck block party, and then it’s back home to get ready for trick-or-treaters. We get truckloads of kids. I can fill a 5-gallon bucket with candy and come Tuesday morning there will not be a single piece left. I don’t tell kids “just take one.” That’s no fun! I give them each a few, and I reserve something special for the most creative costumes: Full. Sized. Bars. 
It’s biological, wanting something sweet this time of year. I give most of the candy away, exercising serious willpower because I do have a sweet tooth. These days I’d rather have something homemade than store-bought candy that sticks to my teeth. Bonus points for anything that makes the house smell good. This old-fashioned gingerbread cake recipe does the trick: lots of dark molasses and aromatic spices, plus some fresh ginger for a little more zip.
I also swap out the applesauce for mango puree. You know I’m always looking for a way to use up frozen mangos, but I think it makes this cake even better. That hint of sweet tropical fruit is perfect with molasses and ginger.
You could bake this in a normal cake pan or brownie pan, but I recommend a cast-iron skillet. Pre-heat it with some butter, then pour in the batter. The cake turns out beautifully, with buttery-crisp edges. You can serve it right out of the pan, or flip it onto a plate.
Next up is a lime glaze to drizzle over the warm cake. This makes it taste like a dark & stormy in cake form.
The kids can have all that candy, but this cake is mine.
You can find directions for my tie-dye-style spiderweb tablecloth here. It’s pretty easy. First you trace the spiderweb pattern with chalk…
Then go over the pattern with q-tips dipped in bleach. Next you wash it.
Ta-da! 
Hope your Halloween is spooky and sweet!
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 cup mango puree from frozen mangos*
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- pinch of ground cloves
- pinch of ground nutmeg
- additional 2 tablespoons butter, for the pan
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- In the bowl of a mixer or a large bowl, beat the softened butter until fluffy. Add the egg, then the molasses. Next add the mango puree and ginger.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg with a fork. Add the dry ingredients to the wet about 1/3 at a time and beat until fairly smooth.
- Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter in the cast-iron skillet and place it in the oven until it's melted and a little bubbly. Take it out (oven mitt, obviously) and swirl the butter around the bottom of the skillet. Pour in the batter.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for about 15 minutes.
- Stir together the lime juice and powdered sugar. That's it.
- You can flip it upside down onto a plate, or just slice and serve it right from the skillet, warm, drizzled with lime glaze.
- *Place about 2 cups frozen mangos in a strainer over a bowl or measuring cup. Allow them to thaw completely. The excess liquid will drip into the bowl or cup. Reserve this for another use (smoothies! cocktails!)
- Puree the mangos in a blender and measure out 1 cup to use in the recipe.
Oh, man, this looks delicious. I haven’t found one recipe on your blog that I don’t like 🙂 P.S. Happy Halloween (and BOOO)!
You are too kind, Nicole! This one’s especially good warm out of the oven… beware! I wish I had more right now. ? Happy Halloween to you!