Scandinavian Gingerbread Cakes

Gingerbread cakes—or gembertaarts—are wildly popular during the holidays in Sweden, where the baking season begins on December 13, Santa Lucia Day, and doesn’t end until the beginning of the New Year. This recipe makes 12 cakes, but you can easily halve the recipe to make fewer. You will need 3/4-cup cake molds or loaf pans (we found an assortment at our local crafts store).

Created by: Stephanna Bottom

Food stylist: Packaging by Kelli Ronc

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup boiling water

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, with one rack in the middle. Place a cookie sheet on the rack to heat. Spray each cake mold with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
• 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves; set aside.
• 3. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light. Gradually beat in the eggs and molasses. Add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture and beat until just combined. Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water and add to the batter, stirring well.
• 4. Fill each pan about half full. (If you do not have 12 pans, fill as many as you have, holding the batter at room temperature until the first batch has baked.) Transfer each pan to the hot cookie sheet.
• 5. Bake until the top is firm when gently pressed, about 15 minutes. Cool pans on a wire rack, then remove cakes from pans. Cakes may be refrigerated up to two days before decorating.
• 6. To make the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of the crystallized ginger in a food processor. Process until fully combined. Transfer glaze to a bowl and add more sugar to thicken if desired.
• 7. Decorate the top of each cake with glaze and sprinkle with the remaining crystallized ginger. Cakes will keep at room temperature up to three days.

TIP: You will need 12 small white boxes with lids; 2 sheets light-blue card stock; 2 sheets lightweight white paper; 3-1/2 yards decorative ribbon; silver twine; diamond hole punch Place each cake in a 3ƒ-inch white box with a lid (we used marquis cake boxes, $1.60 each from www.weddingthings.com), then secure it with silver twine and decorative ribbon (you can find an assortment of holiday ribbons at www.mjtrim.com). The snowflake cards were made with lightweight white paper, light-blue card stock, and a diamond hole punch ($3.20 at www.scrapbook-supplies-forever.com). Simply cut out a 2-inch circle of white paper, then fold it in half, then in half again, and once more to make a pie-shaped wedge. Punch four diamonds along the fold, then open it up and secure it to a blue-card circle with twine. You will need to punch a hole in the card stock for the twine. Total cost per cake: $6 Time spent to make and package 12 cakes: 2 hours

Photographer: Wendell T. Webber

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