Slow Cooker Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Sauce

1. Beat butter and sugar for cake in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and mix well. Mix in molasses.

2. Sift flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together in another bowl. Stir into butter mixture. Add coffee and beat well.

3. Grease and flour the inside of a small, quart-sized French baking dish or baking insert. Pour in batter. Place in the slow cooker. Pour water around the insert or baking dish, halfway up the sides. Cover insert with lid, or cover baking dish with paper towels.

4. Cover cooker with lid slightly ajar to allow excess moisture to escape. Cook until edges are golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, on Low, 3 to 4 hours, or High, 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Remove dish from the cooke and let cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes before running a knife around the outer edge of the cake and inverting onto a serving plate.

5. While cake cools, combine powdered sugar, water, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt for lemon sauce in a saucepan, stirring with each addition. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in butter.

6. Top cake with lemon sauce.

Cook's Notes:

You can use margarine instead of butter, Truvia(R) baking sugar instead of white sugar, sorghum molasses instead of regular, hot water instead of coffee, and 1/4 cup lemon juice concentrate instead of lemon juice.

Instead of using a dish, you can cook directly in the slow cooker. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom of slow cooker. Place in bottom of slow cooker. Spray paper and sides of cooker's interior with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into the preheated slow cooker. Cover cooker with lid slightly ajar to allow excess moisture to escape. Cook until edges are golden and knife inserted in center comes out clean on Low, 3 to 4 hours, or High, 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Cut the cake into wedges after allowing it to cool for 30 minutes. Carefully lift the wedges out of the cooker, place on serving plates, and drizzle with sauce.

Make sure you leave room for cake to grow. Do not overfill French baking dish.