Gingerbread is one of the coziest flavors of all. Whether you are baking gingerbread cookies, decorating gingerbread houses or drinking ginger chai, ginger really spices up the season. For this holiday dessert centerpiece, layer moist gingerbread cake with fluffy spiced cream cheese icing and top with sparkly sugared cranberries and rosemary. It’s magical.
The cake is made with buttermilk and sour cream to ensure a super-moist texture. Molasses and brown sugar are key ingredients that create a deep, rich and nutty flavor. And although ginger is the focus, cinnamon and cloves add warmth and a perfect amount of spice.
Spiced cream cheese icing between layers creates drama. Be sure to leave the cake layers “naked” on the sides to let the flavors shine through.
Kristen Massad of Dallas, a pastry chef and graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York, blogs at joyoliver.com.
Gingerbread Layer Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Icing
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup molasses
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
Spiced Cream Cheese Icing (recipe follows)
Sugared Rosemary and Cranberries (recipe follows)
Heat oven to 350 F and prepare four 6-inch cake pans with nonstick spray and parchment paper lining the bottom of each pan.
In large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt; set aside.
In a mixing bowl with paddle attachment, cream together the oil, sugar and molasses.
Add eggs and sour cream and mix until combined.
Alternating with the buttermilk, add in the flour mixture, scraping the sides in between each addition.
Divide the cake batter between the four cake pans.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the pan and allow them to cool at room temperature.
Once the cake is cooled, layer cakes with Spiced Cream Cheese Icing, finishing with spiced cream cheese on top.
Garnish the cake with Sugared Rosemary and Cranberries.
Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Spiced Cream Cheese Icing
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 8 ounces cream cheese and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Slowly add in 4 cups powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix on high speed until the cream cheese icing is smooth and fluffy.
Sugared Rosemary and Cranberries
In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Once the sugar is dissolved, shut the heat off and remove from the stove. Pour 1 cup fresh cranberries and 6 rosemary sprigs into the simple syrup and gently stir. Allow the cranberries and rosemary sprigs to sit in the simple syrup for 10 minutes. Remove the cranberries and rosemary sprigs from the simple syrup and lay them on parchment paper, keeping them all separated. Once the cranberries and rosemary sprigs have cooled off, dredge them in more sugar.