Description
Gingerbread house cake made with a crunchy almond and cinnamon cake, filled with a milk chocolate ganache and covered with a mascarpone whipped cream. And chocolate gingerbread house cookies (4 inch / 12 cm cake for about 8 - 10 servings)
Ingredients
Chocolate gingerbread house cookies
- 350 g (1 1/2 cups) Flour - all-purpose
- 70 g ( /3 cup) Brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 140 g (1/2 cup) Butter - unsalted and softened
- 1 egg - room temperature
- 100 g (1/3 cup) molasses
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- A pinch of nutmeg
- A pinch of cloves
- A pinch of salt
- 20 g (1/4 cup) Cocoa powder - unsweetened
Sugar Icing
- 260 g (2 cups) Icing sugar - sifted)
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) Water
Almond cinnamon cake
- 260 g (2 cups) Flour - cake flour
- 100 g (1/2 cup) Sugar - granulated
- 80 g (1/3 cup) Brown sugar
- 3 eggs - room temperature
- 30 g (1/4 cup) Almond meal
- 170 g (3/4 cup) Butter - unsalted and softened
- 240 ml (1 cup) Buttermilk - or milk
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 45 g (1/3 cup) crushed almonds
Chocolate ganache filling
- 100 g (3,5 oz) Milk chocolate
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) Heavy cream - full fat
Mascarpone whipped cream
- 100 g (1/2 cup) Mascarpone cheese - cold
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) Heavy cream - full fat and cold
- 1 tbsp Powdered 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.
Notes
Storage: Up to 5 days in the fridge under plastic wrap or in an airtight box, and up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: cakes, Dessert
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Calories: 531
- Sugar: 25
- Sodium: 250
- Fat: 35
- Saturated Fat: 19
- Carbohydrates: 49
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 8
- Cholesterol: 126