Gingerbread cake with whipped cream, cream cheese frosting.

This cake is perfectly delicious with just the cake and frosting, but if you add the extras, you create all the flavors of the holidays in one glorious cake. You have the spicy gingerbread, whipped cream, pie crust and cranberries. It all comes together so perfectly. I made this cake twice in one week. The first time in full cake form and the second in the form of mini cupcakes…both were beautifully delicious. The recipe was in high demand, so here it is from me to you with love!

Cake Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

10 Tbs room temperature butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup molasses

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and line the bottom of two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper.

1) Into a medium sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients…flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

2) Into a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) on medium speed beat your butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add your eggs one at a time mixing between each addition. Add your molasses and vanilla and beat until just combined.

3) On a medium-low speed add your flour and sour cream to the butter mixture -alternating between the two - beginning and ending with the flour.

4) Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 30 min or until a wooden pic comes out clean. Gingerbread tends to dry out pretty quick when over baked so keep a close eye on your cake near the end of the baking time. Cool cake completely!

Cinnamon sugar leaf ingredients:

Pastry for one pie crust (use store bought or your favorite recipe)

The whites from 1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbs cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

preheat oven to 375

1) Roll out your pie dough. Using cookie cutter or your own artistic knife skills cut out leaves making sure they aren’t to big…you want them to be pretty much bite size. Place leaf cutouts onto a baking sheet, let them cool in the freezer for 10 min.

2) In a small bowl whisk egg white until frothy. Using a pastry brush cover the tops of your leaves with egg whites.

3) In another small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Generously sprinkle the egg washed leaves with the cinnamon sugar. Bake for 8-10 min or until golden brown. Cool completely.

Sugared Cranberries ingredients:

1 bag of fresh cranberries

3 cups sugar (divided)

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1) In a medium sized sauce pan add 1 cup of sugar, water and vanilla. Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved. Turn the heat off and stir in the cranberries. Let them sit in the hot sugar mixture for 2 minutes.

2) Pour the 2 extra cups of sugar into a shallow dish. With a slotted spoon remove some of the cranberries and toss them into the sugar and then remove them from the sugar and place on a piece of parchment paper. Repeat until all the cranberries are all sugared and drying on the parchment. In about 30-40 min your cranberries should be crunchy and oh so good! like candy!

Ingredients for the frosting:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1) In a large, deep bowl (or the bowl of your standing mixer) beat the cream cheese at high speed until fluffy. Add the sugar, vanilla and salt and beat until fluffy. Then slowly pour in the whipping cream down the side of the bowl but keeping the mixer at high speed. Beat until mixture if fluffy and has stiffened up a bit. This is not a firm frosting, its very soft.

Assembly:

Cover the completely cooled cake with frosting, You may want to reserve a bit for touch ups when you are done decorating. Add the cranberries and pie leaves to the top of your cake in any artistic manner you choose! Refrigerate if you are not eating this cake right away. Enjoy!!