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.

Peppermint Bark

Part of what I made for our Christmas gift and/or baked goods-exchange between friends. I made this, homemade marshmallows (some chocolate covered, some plain, and some peppermint), and homemade hot cocoa mix. I quadrupled the recipe so I had a lot of bark.

(recipe courtesy of Baked By Rachel)

Assorted Chocolate Truffles

I don’t even remember why I made these truffles, knowing me I was probably just bored, but my friend Briana helped me. She also wanted to take them home, but never got to. Sorry, Bree!

Assorted Chocolate Truffles

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp granulated sugar (light corn syrup is even better because the truffles keep better. Use it if you have it.)
• 12 oz chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
• 1 tbsp butter
• cocoa powder for coating
• assorted nuts, sprinkles, etc for rolling (I used peppermints and chocolate sprinkles since it was all I had on hand at the time)

If using a big block of chocolate, or a bar, chop it up. Once pieces are small enough, drop them into a small bowl. Pour the cream, sugar (or corn syrup), and butter into a a pot and bring to a boil over high heat. It will boil over pretty quickly, so keep a close eye on it. Once boiled, remove from the heat and pour it all at once over the chocolate. If some pieces of chocolate aren’t submerged, push them under with a spoon. Let this sit and melt for a minute, and then start whisking. Whisk until everything is incorporated, shiny, and smooth. You’ll have ganache. Scrape everything into another clean bowl and refrigerate for a couple hours so it has a chance to harden. You can also make it the day before. The ganache will firm up considerably and be difficult to scoop into balls. Let the bowl rest at room temperature for 45 minutes first, and then the scooping will go smoothly.When you come back to it a couple of hours later, the surface will have dulled over and that’s okay. The texture should be firm but scoopable. A melon baller makes scooping considerably easier, but I just use a spoon and roll it into a ball quickly with my hands (making sure the chocolate doesn’t heat up and melt in my palms). Then you dip/roll the chocolate in the coating of your choice, and there you have it. Store the truffles in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

(recipe adapted from Pastry Pal)