Gingerbread house cake

Gingerbread houses cookies

1. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, flour, spices, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder.
2. 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.
3. Form a ball of homogeneous dough, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. 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.
5. Place in freezer for about 20 minutes.
6. Preheat your oven to 347°F / 175°C, bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes then let them cool completely.

Royal icing

1. Whip confectioner's sugar and water with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until thick and smooth.
2. 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.
3. Garnish a pastry bag with the royal icing, fitted with a small round nozzle, or simply by cutting off the end of the bag.
4. Decorate your biscuits with the royal icing as you wish and leave to dry for about 1 hour.

Cinnamon almond cake

1. Preheat your oven to 347°F/ 175°C and line 2 round moulds of 12 cm in diameter with baking paper.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients, flour, almond powder, cinnamon, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.
3. 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.
4. Stir in dry ingredients mixture and fermented milk alternately.
5. Add the crushed almonds and continue beating for another 1 minute.
6. Divide your mixture in half and pour it into your 2 cake moulds.
7. Bake for about 45-50 minutes.
8. 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

1. Cut the chocolate into pieces and place it in a container.
2. Bring the liquid cream to the boil and pour it over the chocolate in one go.
3. Mix with a spatula until you obtain a smooth ganache.
4. Cover on contact and place in the fridge for 1 night or until the ganache is cold.
5. Before assembling the cake, whisk the chocolate ganache for 1-2 minutes.

Mascarpone whipped cream

1. 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

1. Using a sponge cake lyre, cut out the bump of your 2 cakes, then cut them into 4 layers of equal size.
2. 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.
3. Repeat this step for the remaining 2 layers of cake.
4. Apply a layer of whipped cream mascarpone over the whole cake.
5. 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.