♥Snow-Capped Gingerbread Chimneys♥

These cakes are spicy and dense (in a good way) with just a tad of lemon cream cheese frosting to complement them. They have the consistency of a cake-y brownie but the flavor of gingerbread cookies. The petite cakes are about the size of cupcakes, but with a touch more style. I baked these as 8×8 sheet cakes and then used a biscuit cutter to punch out small rounds after the cake had baked and cooled.

Makes 9 small Gingerbread Chimneys

2 Cups Flour
2 tsp Ginger
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Molasses (unsulphured, like Grandma’s brand)
2/3 Cup Hot Water
1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Egg, optional

*Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup Butter
1 lb Confectioner’s Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Zest from 1 Lemon
*I've been known to cheat and use Cool Whip at the last minute. They turn out yummy for the tummy!

Preheat oven to 350º F.

• Mix the flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl until well combined.

• Prepare two 8×8 baking pans as follows: grease the pans with butter. Lay a square of parchment paper down in the inside of the pans, cut to fit the bottoms. Butter the paper as well. Use some of the gingerbread dry ingredients you just mixed to flour the pans, shaking/tapping out any extra.

• Whisk molasses and hot water together.

• Cream the butter and sugar. Whip the mixture with the egg until light and fluffy.

• Add part of the molasses mixture and part of the butter and sugar mixture to the dry ingredients. Begin to combine. As the ingredients come together, add more of the butter mixture and more of the molasses mixture until everything has been incorporated. Whisk to remove lumps, but to not over-mix.

• Pour the batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Bake at 350º F for 30-40 minutes until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, or the top of the cake, when touched, springs back.

Let cakes cool completely, then remove from the pan. You may need to use a knife to loosen the edges, but the parchment paper should keep the bottoms from sticking.

Once the cakes have cooled and have been removed from the pans, use a small biscuit cutter to cut 9 rounds from each cake. I have also used small cookie cutters in the shape of a star which is absolutely adorable!

Prepare frosting by beating all of the frosting ingredients until well combined and fluffy. Place a small amount of frosting on 9 rounds. Stack the rounds. Place the rest of the frosting in a piping bag and frost the top of each cake.

I garnished the ones you see here with green and red nonpareils, but maraschino cherries would be awesome or chocolate jimmies or a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg! Store in an airtight container until ready to serve. HINT: the gingerbread freezes really well so it isn't a problem for you to make several batches, freeze them, and then decorate when guests arrive!

Now, I know what you're thinking, "What in the world am I going to do with the gingerbread cake that if left after cutting my rounds." Here's what you do: Let the cake sit out for the rest of the day and then crumble with your hands and store in an air-tight container. The next time you sit down with a bowl of vanilla ice cream sprinkle some of your gingerbread crumbs on top or your ice cream mountian and then plop a great, big splot of whipping cream right on the summit. YUM!