Every year for Christmas, I try to make a torte — aka a fancy cake. It’s really the only time of the year that I make a true cake as I am more of a pie or cupcake kind of person. So this year, I went with a little fancy and a little rustic with this Gingerbread Cake with Maple-Mascarpone Whipped Cream and Rosemary, decorated with gingerbread snowmen. The flavor was terrific though the cake ended up a bit dense. The Maple-Mascarpone Whipped Cream was fantastic … I’m going to have to find some excuse to make it for something else!
Ingredients, for the cake
1 cup butter softened to room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all-spice
1 1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 cup milk
For the Frosting
2/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract
For decorating
gingerbread people or snowmen (see recipe here: )
rosemary sprigs as “pine trees”
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray and line with parchment paper, set aside.
First make your cake. In the work bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together your butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in your molasses and eggs and keep mixing until smooth. In another bowl mix together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Alternate adding your flour mixture and milk into butter mixture in about 3 additions. Once everything is blended, distribute evenly in prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until cake springs back and toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then run knife around edges of pans and turn cakes out onto wire racks to cool completely.
To make your frosting, in the work bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the mascarpone, cream, vanilla, and maple extract on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Use right away, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread one-third of the mascarpone whipped cream evenly over the cake. Repeat with the remaining cake layers, then spread the remaining whipped cream over the top of the cake. Gently stand the gingerbread cookies on top of the cake. Surround with the rosemary springs to resemble trees and dust the entire cake with confectioners’ sugar to resemble snow. The cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.