Gingerbread Cake with Molasses and Turmeric Cream Cheese Frosting

When I originally started brainstorming my 12 Days of Christmas Desserts, this recipe was supposed to be my traditional one. In my little notebook, I actually have written down “classic gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting”. I wouldn’t say that this cake is classic, but it’s definitely Anna. What can I say? I can’t help myself.

While not exceptionally classic, there are some really fun flavors at play in this cake and it’s still a very simple recipe. An ultra-moist, blending method cake gets loaded with grated fresh ginger and carob molasses and then topped with a semi-traditional cream cheese frosting, spiked with a little turmeric. Sprinkling the whole thing with toasted pecans and candied ginger feels a little festive and so while is this is decidedly not a traditional gingerbread cake, it’s a very fun one.

Gingerbread Cake with Carob Molasses and Tumeric Cream Cheese Frosting

makes one 9x13” cake

Ingredients

for the cake 

2 1/2 cups (300 g) all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated (from a piece about 1”)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 cup carob molasses (or regular molasses)

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar

1 cup (200 g) neutral oil

3/4 cup (170 g) warm water

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tbsp vanilla extract

for the frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 oz (113 g) unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp turmeric*

toasted pecans, optional

candied ginger, optional

Procedure 

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a 9x13” baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and fresh ginger. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, molasses, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, orange juice, and oil until smooth and combined.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir together until incorporated. Gradually whisk in the warm water until batter is smooth and loose.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center of the cake is set. Let cool.

6. To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and continue to beat until mixture is smooth and homogenous. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and tumeric, and continue to beat until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

7. Spread frosting on cooled cake and sprinkle with toasted pecans and candied ginger.

Notes:

-If turmeric isn’t your cup of tea, feel free to leave it out completely. The measurement listed in the recipe errs on the side of caution in that there is a faint turmeric flavor but not enough to scare people off. If I were making this cake just for myself, I’d probably up to 1 tsp in order for the flavor to really come through. Choose your own adventure. :)

-If you don’t have carob molasses, you can just sub in regular ‘ole molasses and get a slightly less chocolatey, more classic gingerbread flavor.

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Hawaij Snickerdoodles

An autumnal spin on the classic snickerdoodle. This easy snickerdoodle recipe features a homemade hawaij spice blend, sticky molasses, thin crunchy edges and soft chewy centers.

This past weekend, Tahini and I made a short trip to South Florida to host a small, socially-distanced baby shower for my sister-in-law, Laura. Laura and I met 10 years ago this month at a sorority rush event during my sophomore year of college and we became best friends right away. It took us about five minutes to realize that we were going to be great buddies and so began a lifetime of sleepovers and cookie baking. And then, lucky for us, I met Laura’s brother, Martin, and we fell in love and got married and now Laura is my real-life sister and it’s a really wonderful set-up. All of this to say, my best friend and sister is having a baby this year and that makes this new addition to our family a little extra special for me.

The shower itself was pretty low-key, so we wanted the food to reflect that same vibe. I made one big, grazing counter filled with fruits, veggies, dips, jams, charcuterie, cheeses, and lots of hunks of bread. We had sparkling lemonade and I made a chocolate cake with caramel ganache frosting that almost sweated off the sides on the three hour drive down south, but we covered it up with flowers which did an excellent job masking the saggy sides of the cake. And then I made these Hawaij snickerdoodles which taste like a dusting of fall and everyone was very into them.

Hawaij (pronounced ha-why-udge) is a Yemeni spice blend that is used in all sorts of dishes, from meats and soups to desserts and coffee. The spices tend to vary depending on the usage of the blend and the word Hawaij actually means “mixture” in Arabic so I think that gives a bit of freedom in the makeup. I first discovered hawaij in Molly Yeh’s book Molly on the Range, and started keeping some around the house to grind with my coffee beans in the mornings. I’ve very lightly adapted her version with the addition of coriander and will occasionally add a crank or two of black pepper. It’s the perfect spice blend to make your snickerdoodles a little more interesting and my cousin says that these cookies taste like cinnamon toast crunch which feels like a win in my book.

Yield

20-22 cookies

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

15 Min

Cook time

10 Min

Inactive time

30 Min

Total time

55 Min

Print

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Hawaij Snickerdoodles

An autumnal spin on the classic snickerdoodle. This easy snickerdoodle recipe features a homemade hawaij spice blend, sticky molasses, thin crunchy edges and soft chewy centers.

Ingredients

for the hawaij spice blend (lightly adapted from Molly Yeh)

• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground coriander

for the cookie dough

• 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Hawaij spice blend
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (56 g) brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (113 g) butter
• 1/3 cup (43 g) olive oil
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

for rolling

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar
• 1 tsp Hawaij spice blend

Instructions

1. To make the spice blend: combine all of the spices in a small bowl and whisk together.
2. Place butter in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook, swirling every minute or so, until butter is foamy and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and let cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and Hawaij spice blend. Set aside.
4. When the butter is cooled, add sugar, and brown sugar to the mixing bowl. Beat with paddle attachment for about 1 minute, until all of the sugar is coated and the mixture has the consistency of wet sand. With the mixer on low speed, stream in olive oil and continue mixing until combined and homogenized.
5. Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses, and mix until combined, then gradually add dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated and no dry streaks remain. The dough will be very wet, that’s ok!
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 30 minutes. When the dough is chilled, scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. At this time, you can bake the cookies or transfer them to the freezer and bake them off a few at a time.
7. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375° F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine sugar, demerara sugar, and Hawaij spice blend. Roll each cookie ball in the Hawaij sugar and place on a baking sheet, spaced 1-2” inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the tops are dry and cookies are set. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then enjoy!

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Soft Ginger Cookies

Christmas is almost here! If you are anything like me, you are in full Christmas mode- the gifts are wrapped, the halls are decked, and your house smells like sugar and spice and everything nice. We are doing Christmas with both sides of the family this year so that means that we will be hitting the ground running once guests arrive this evening. I have spent the last few days rushing around trying to get everything together and my house clean before everyone gets here and it has been quite the whirlwind! Lucky for you, one of the things that I have been working on so diligently are these soft ginger cookies. They are warm and cozy and firmly in the Christmas cookie category even though they don’t contain royal icing and sprinkles.

When developing this recipe, one of the issues I kept running into was cookie spread-age (I don’t think that is the technical term, but…) so I wanted to address that a little in today’s post. It is the absolute worst when you go through all of the trouble of making and scooping cute little cookie balls (or even worse, rolling and cutting out shapes) only to have your cookies morph into one large, crispy cookie sheet as soon as you stick them in the oven. Here are a few precautions and things you can take note of in order to help prevent this catastrophe!

-Ingredients: First things first, check your recipe ahead of time and know the purpose of each ingredient. White sugar, low protein flours (like cake and pastry), and a large amount of fat will all contribute to cookie spreading. This definitely doesn’t mean don’t use these things, just be mindful of the quantities and ratios and adjust your expectations accordingly. Baking soda will also cause spread and browning in cookies. Baking soda is needed to counteract acidic ingredients, like the molasses in these cookies, and it is much stronger than baking powder. In this recipe, I found that a blend of the two worked best to give my cookies balance and still keep them a little fluffy.

-Procedure: Using the creaming method for cookies, like we do in this recipe, is slightly different than using it for cakes. When you are creaming butter and sugar, you are creating space and trapping air bubbles in between your fat and the sugar crystals. Air bubbles then help to create leavening and give the carbon dioxide produced from the baking soda and powder a place to go, creating a light and fluffy crumb. This is great in cakes, but not so great in keeping cookies from spreading. When creaming the butter and sugar for cookies, you aren’t going for “light and fluffy”, but more of a “thoroughly combined” mixture. The final steps you can take to help safeguard against cookie spreading is 1) chill your dough- this allows the fat to re-solidify, so it doesn’t melt as quickly in the oven; 2) do not spray your cookie sheet- use parchment or a silpat, but don’t add any more grease that those cookies can slip around in; and 3) bake your cookies at a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time-if your oven temperature is too low, it may allow too much time for cookies to spread.

David Lebovitz also has a really great article (with lots of links!) for some more tips and tricks on preventing cookie spreading here.

Happy Holidays and happy baking! This week, may your homes be filled with laughter, your glasses filled with Champagne, and may your cookies keep their shapes! Merry Christmas!

Soft Ginger Cookies 

Yield: approximately 30 cookies 

Ingredients: 

2 sticks butter, slightly softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup molasses

3 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

6 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp cardamom

3/4 tsp ground cloves

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

Procedure: 

1. In a medium bowl, measure flour using the spoon and scoop method. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. Whisk together and set aside. 

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter and sugar and beat until just combined (*see above for details). 

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined before adding the next. Mix in molasses and vanilla extract, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

4. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients, mixing until everything is combined and no flour streaks remain. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for least 1 hour and up to 24 hours. 

5. When ready to bake: preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use a small cookie scoop to arrange cookie balls on baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to brown and the tops of the cookies are no longer wet. Let cookies cool on pan for at least 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. (Make sure to let the baking sheet cool before adding more cookie dough to prevent spreading in the oven.)

Decorating Ideas: 

*I glazed these with a cream cheese icing and topped them with crushed pistachios and freeze dried raspberries (ground into powder using a food processor) to give them a Christmas-y feel. To make the cream cheese icing, I melted half a block of cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl. I then added 1/4-1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and whisked until smooth. I added 1-2 tablespoons of heavy cream until the icing reached my desired consistency. Dunk the tops of the cookies in the glaze and then sprinkle with pistachios and raspberry. 

*To create a sugared ginger cookie more reminiscent of a ginger snap, roll the cookie balls in Demerara or turbinado sugar (or another coarsely ground sugar) before baking. 

*To create a clean, classic look, melt some white chocolate and drizzle it over the cookies or dip the cookies so that they are covered with white chocolate half moons.