Nutty Gingerbread Cake with Toffee Sauce

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sulfured molasses
4 large eggs

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup chopped pecans
Garnish:  confectioners' sugar
Toffee Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12 or 15 cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy.  Add molasses, beating until combined.  Add eggs, beating until smooth.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and ginger.  Gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until combined.  Stir in pecans.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan, cool completely on a wire rack.  Garnish with confectioners' sugar if desired.  Serve cake with warm Toffee Sauce.

Toffee Sauce:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add brown sugar, stirring to combine.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Stir in cream and vanilla; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

This recipe came from the Paula Deen's Christmas magazine, December 2011 issue.  I wanted to try it because A.  I love anything that comes with a sauce and 2.  My Aunt Fern was a huge fan of gingerbread and anytime I see it, smell it or taste it I always think of her and then start to miss her very much.  So I made this cake in her honor even though the taste of gingerbread it not one of my favorites.  While I was mixing this cake I tasted the batter just after I had added the molasses and I almost gagged!  Apparently I don't care of the taste of molasses either!  I was worried that this cake would end up in the trash but once you get all the ingredients mixed together it really is pretty tasty.  The house smelled really good while the cake was baking which was a plus for me.  It makes a dense, pound cake type bundt cake.  The sauce is really good.  Larripon as my mother would say.  You could put this sauce on just about any kind of cake and it would be great on ice cream too.  I personally like it plain, on a spoon!  When you serve this cake you can cut a slice first, drizzle the sauce over the cake and then microwave it for about 25 seconds.  Dee-lish!!!