Christmas Baking: Gingerbread Cake with Cinnamon Frosting & Chewy Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

I didn't get to do as much Christmas baking as I'd planned, being away for most of the time. But what I did bake, people seemed to really like, which is always good, especially since I tried something new this year. I usually make Snickerdoodles every year but we didn't have the right sugar so I opted out.








Gingerbread Cake

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 eggs
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger (I didn't have ginger so I used 1/2 tsp of cloves and nutmeg)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup hot water

Grease a 9-inch square pan and pre-heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, and stir in the molasses. In a separate bowl, sift the remaining dry ingredients; add alternately with water to molasses mixture in 3 additions, stirring after each addition. Bake in prepared pan about 50 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Frosting

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 8oz package cream cheese
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp heavy cream

I'm just guessing on the amounts, I never write them down for frosting. I just add more butter and more sugar and more cream until the taste and consistency is what I want.
Cream butter and cream cheese. Slowly add confectioners' sugar and cinnamon. Mix until well blended. Add heavy cream and beat until frosting is fluffy and of spreading consistency.

Chewy Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies (from ohmyveggies)

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c. mini chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)
• 1/2 c. crushed peppermint pieces (about 6 candy canes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and whisk until combined and any lumps are broken up. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together using a mixer on high speed. Add vanilla and egg and beat until combined. Set mixer to low speed and slowly add flour mixture. Beat until just combined and fold in chocolate chips and peppermint pieces.
Drop tablespoons of batter two inches apart onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 12 minutes or until set. (Don't overbake or the cookies won't be chewy!) Cook on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then finish cooling on wire racks.

Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting and Vanilla Spice Filling

I wanted to make a cake, but unfortunately didn't get the ingredients until Saturday.
I altered this recipe a bit and if I ever use it again, I would definitely make some changes. I should have known when I read the recipe that pouring all that batter into one 9" cake pan sounded a little suspicious, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. I already had to convert the oven temperature to Fahrenheit, so I thought maybe the amounts just didn't add up to make a normal 2-layer cake, and when I poured it, it wouldn't have fit evenly into two 9" pans (one cake layer would have been exceptionally smaller). I think if I hadn't omitted the coffee, maybe it would have fit into two pans. I probably should have just boiled one cup of hot water to add instead but left it out entirely, which is one reason why the cake wasn't as moist as it could have been.
The cake, along with not coming out as moist as I'd hoped, it overflowed in the pan, making it so the outside almost burned but the middle was still quite raw. I managed to cook it all the way through, carve off the really crunchy pieces, and cut it in half to make a 2-layer cake. It looks prettier than it tastes, I will admit that. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to cooking, and I believe there's always ways to make things better.

Chocolate Cake (recipe adapted from Sips and Spoonfuls)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot brewed coffee or water
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350° F and spray two 9" cake pans with cooking spray. In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the butter, sugars, and eggs. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla to the wet mixture. Combine the wet and dry mixtures. Mix well until combined and then add coffee/hot water. Mix once again. Pour into greased pans and bake in the middle rack in the oven for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out just clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla Spice Buttercream (makes just enough for filling in between 2 cake layers)

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp milk (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2—2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Add cinnamon. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and beat until desired consistency. Add milk and/or more sugar until icing is the desired consistency.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting (adapted from Smitten Kitchen; makes about 5 cups)

• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate*, melted and cooled
• 4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Beat your butter and chocolate until incorporated. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add more or less milk / sugar until the frosting is the desired consistency.

*(I used half a bag of Hershey's dark chocolate chips; in retrospect, unsweetened chocolate would have been better, as I think the frosting turned out too sweet)

Making Ice Cream Without A Machine: First Attempt— Cinnamon Chip Ice Cream

This was my first time really making ice cream from scratch, and while it wasn’t as bad as I expected, it definitely could have gone better. I want to try again as soon as possible.
What I think went wrong: the consistency was too icy, so I needed to stir it more. I don’t have an ice cream maker, so I used the whisking method, and I think more air would have been incorporated if I had used a hand mixer. I also ended up trying to do too many things at once and while heating up the milk and sugar, it sat too long and most of the sugar sat at the bottom of the pan and burnt so the ice cream took on that icky burnt sugar taste. The chocolate chips mostly covered that up but it was still a problem.

Overall besides the texture, it still tasted pretty good, especially with a lot of chocolate syrup.

Cinnamon Chip Ice Cream

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli double chocolate bittersweet chips)

Combine cornstarch and heavy cream in a small bowl and whisk until dissolved.
Combine the milk, cinnamon, salt, and sugar together in a saucepan and warm over medium heat. Remove from heat and slowly pour cornstarch slurry into the milk mixture, whisking to combine.
Return pan to medium heat and warm until the mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and continue to stir for a few minutes. Pour the mixture into a bowl and let cool for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to release the steam. Refrigerate for several hours, until well chilled.

If you have an ice cream maker: Once chilled, pour ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream (to prevent ice crystals) and close with an airtight lid. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker: Pour ice cream base into a shallow freezer safe dish.
Place ice cream base in the freezer for approximately 45 minutes. Remove from freezer and use a spatula to pull ice cream away from the sides of the dish.
At this point you have two options - 1) whisk ice cream vigorously, or 2) use a hand mixer or stick/immersion blender.
Return ice cream base to freezer again for 45 minutes. Remove from freezer and mix again. Stir in chocolate chips at this point. Continue freezing at 30 to 45 minute intervals until ice cream base is thick and becomes difficult to mix (about the consistency of soft serve ice cream). The whole process will probably take 2 to 3 hours to complete.

Freeze completed base for 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.

(adapted from Scoop Adventures)

Cinnamon Buns

I’ve never made cinnamon buns before, and every recipe I looked at needed some sort of yeast, which I didn’t have, so these are really a cross between biscuits, cinnamon rolls and monkey bread but they’re so good.

Cinnamon Buns For the Glaze

• 1/2 stick butter 
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon 

For the Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 3/4 cup whole milk 

For the Filling

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a small, heavy saucepan, bring the glaze ingredients to a boil, spoon the mixture into the prepared pan so it completely covers the bottom, and set aside.
To make the biscuits, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and milk till well blended, pour into the well, and stir just till a soft dough forms.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll into about an 18 x 10-inch rectangle.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the filling ingredients. Using a pastry brush, spread the melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle the filling over the buttered dough. (if you have any butter left, just pour it over the filling). Starting from the short side, roll up the rectangle jelly-roll style into an 18-inch-long log, slice into 9 biscuits 2-inches thick, arrange the biscuits cut side down in 3 rows in the glazed pan, and bake till puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Invert the pan immediately onto a large platter so the glaze runs down over the biscuits. You can serve them like this, or frost them immediately.

For the Icing

• 2 Cups powdered sugar-sifted 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons milk

Add milk slowly, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. You may not use all the milk, stop when it has formed a thick paste.

(recipe adapted from pepsakoy)

Wookiee Cookies

I got the Star Wars cookbook for Christmas. It was absolutely my favorite gift, since it combines two of my favorite things - Star Wars and cooking. It’s definitely more of a kid-oriented cookbook, but a lot of the recipes are still very creative and fun to make for someone who isn’t a child. The first time I made these cookies, I didn’t realize I was basically just making cinnamon chocolate chip cookies. That’s pretty much all they are (though Wookiee cookies is much more fun to say) but for some reason, the cinnamon really adds to it.
Things to note: I used 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup Nestle chocolate chunks. Also my cookies didn’t turn out very dark since I used light brown sugar and in the picture in the book, they’re pretty dark. They don’t specify, but I’m assuming they used dark brown sugar. Or it’s photoshopped. Who knows?

Wookiee Cookies (from The Star Wars Cookbook)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Put the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Stir until well mixed and set aside.
Put the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in another mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until well blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture a little at a time until well blended. Add in the chocolate chips. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto a greased baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden. Makes about 3 dozen.

Snickerdoodles

Ever since I was little, we always made snickerdoodles for Christmas and only then. I don’t believe they’re actually traditionally just a Christmas cookie, but that was the only time we ever made them. I remember helping my dad make the batter, then forming an assembly line with him for rolling them in the sugars (not just cinnamon sugar, but red and green colors for Christmas too), and of course eating half the cookie dough. It’s definitely one of my favorite childhood memories. As I got older, I realized not everyone only ate them during Christmas. My friends always wanted me to make them all times of the year, and I obliged but somehow felt bad about it, like I was betraying a family tradition, and so I never wanted to eat them. I still made them this Christmas though, and they were just as good as I remember. They just taste better during the holidays.

Snickerdoodles

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

(for rolling)

• about 2 tablespoons sugar
• about 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

*also I like rolling some in colored sugar, green and red for Christmas! (just take a couple drops of liquid food coloring and mix it in some sugar with a fork until it’s not lumpy and the colors are vibrant)

In a mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add about half of the flour, the 1 cup sugar, the egg, vanilla, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375* F for 10-11 minutes or until edges are golden.