The gingerbread house cake is perfect to end the holiday season! A cinnamon flavored almond cake, filled with a milk chocolate ganache, covered with homemade whipped cream and decorated with pretty little gingerbread houses cookies.
If during the holiday season you like to make Christmas cookies with the kids and gingerbread cake then you will love this gingerbread house cake recipe. This is a great recipe to make and share with your family for the holidays.
This lovely creation is made of a crunchy almond sponge cake flavored with cinnamon. Filled with a milk chocolate ganache, covered with mascarpone whipped cream and decorated with gingerbread house cookies.
Chocolate gingerbread house cookies
To decorate this cake I chose to make a small village of chocolate gingerbread house cookies somewhat similar to my gingerbread snowflake recipe and decorate them with royal icing. It's a super fun activity to decorate the cookies and if you have kids share this activity with them to keep them busy during the vacations.
You will also like : Best 10 cake decorating tools for great cakes !
How to make the crunchy almond cinnamon cake
This almond sponge cake is delicious with crunchy almond bits is also flavored with cinnamon spices.
- Chocolate gingerbread cookies: start by making the cookies 1 to 2 days before and decorate them with the royal icing and let them dry at room temperature.
- Milk chocolate ganache: prepare the ganache the day before and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.
- Almond sponge cake: Follow the instructions on the recipe sheet and cut your cakes into 4 equal layers.
- Mascarpone whipped cream: On the day, prepare the whipped cream and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the layer cake.
On the day, assemble your cake by filling it with milk chocolate ganache, then cover it with a layer of mascarpone whipped cream that will allow the cookies to stick all around the cake. For the top cookies, make an indentation with a knife and try to push the cookies in a bit so they stand upright. (or use toothpicks to hold them in place, which you will remove when ready to serve)
You may also like: How to frost a cake
How to store
This cake can be kept in the fridge for about 1 week and can be stored in the freezer for 3 months.
And if you like Christmas recipe:
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Gingerbread house cake
Ingredients
Chocolate gingerbread house cookies
- 350 g Flour - all purpose
- 70 g brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 140 g butter - softened
- 1 egg - room temperature
- 100 g molasses - or 50 g honey and 50 maple syrup
- ½ tsp Ginger
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 pinch Nutmeg
- 1 pinch Cloves
- 1 pinch salt
- 20 g unsweetned cocoa powder
Royal icing
- 260 g Icing sugar - sifted
- 30 ml water
Almond cinnamon cake
- 260 g Flour - all purpose
- 100 g Sugar - granulated
- 80 g brown sugar
- 3 eggs - room temperature
- 30 g almond meal
- 170 g butter - softened
- 240 g buttermilk - or milk
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 ½ tsp Cinnamon
- 45 g crushed almonds
Chocolate ganache filling
- 100 g Milk chocolate
- 120 g Heavy cream - full fat
Mascarpone whipped cream
- 100 g Mascarpone - cold
- 80 g Heavy cream - full fat
- 1 tbsp Icing sugar
Instructions
Gingerbread houses cookies
- In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, flour, spices, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder.
- In the bowl of your mixer with the flat spatula, mix the softened butter and sugar for 3 minutes on high speed, then add the egg, molasses and incorporate the dry ingredients.
- Form a ball of homogeneous dough, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 3 mm, cut out house shapes of different sizes and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place in freezer for about 20 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 347°F / 175°C, bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes then let them cool completely.
Royal icing
- Whip confectioner's sugar and water with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until thick and smooth.
- The royal icing will thicken but should remain runny, if it is too thick you can add a few drops of water and on the contrary if you find it too runny, add some icing sugar instead and whisk again for a few moments.
- Garnish a pastry bag with the royal icing, fitted with a small round nozzle, or simply by cutting off the end of the bag.
- Decorate your biscuits with the royal icing as you wish and leave to dry for about 1 hour.
Cinnamon almond cake
- Preheat your oven to 347°F/ 175°C and line 2 round moulds of 12 cm in diameter with baking paper.
- Mix all the dry ingredients, flour, almond powder, cinnamon, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.
- In the bowl of your mixer, whisk the soft butter with the sugars for 2-3 minutes, then add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.
- Stir in dry ingredients mixture and fermented milk alternately.
- Add the crushed almonds and continue beating for another 1 minute.
- Divide your mixture in half and pour it into your 2 cake moulds.
- Bake for about 45-50 minutes.
- Leave your cakes to cool completely before covering them with cling film and placing them in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Chocolate ganache filling
- Cut the chocolate into pieces and place it in a container.
- Bring the liquid cream to the boil and pour it over the chocolate in one go.
- Mix with a spatula until you obtain a smooth ganache.
- Cover on contact and place in the fridge for 1 night or until the ganache is cold.
- Before assembling the cake, whisk the chocolate ganache for 1-2 minutes.
Mascarpone whipped cream
- Place all ingredients in a bowl, heavy cream, mascarpone and confectioner's sugar and beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes until thick.
Assembly
- Using a sponge cake lyre, cut out the bump of your 2 cakes, then cut them into 4 layers of equal size.
- Place a cake base on your turntable, place a first layer of cake, place a layer of chocolate ganache on top, smooth with a bent spatula and cover with a 2nd layer of cake.
- Repeat this step for the remaining 2 layers of cake.
- Apply a layer of whipped cream mascarpone over the whole cake.
- Place your cake on your support or display, decorate the outline with the biscuits, stick them if necessary with a little whipped cream to make them stick.
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