Gingersnap Bundt Cake

Christmas is just around the corner, but you still have time to get baking!  Lianne Faulder from the Edmonton Journal asked me a couple of weeks ago if I could submit a recipe that folks at home could make a not be intimidated to create on their own.  I've got a great recipe to share with you for a simple & delicious cake to serve at your Holiday party!  

This cake will fill your kitchen with the cozy scent of cinnamon and ginger and the richness of molasses and everything Christmas!  It's also so simple to decorate...nothing frilly or time consuming and the end result is this beauty...

So, roll up your sleeves, put on the Santa hat and get cracking.

Gingersnap Bundt Cake

Using a stand mixer, cream together until light and fluffy:

1-1/2 cups butter, softened

1, 8 ounce grams package cream cheese

2-1/2 cups sugar

Slowly Add:

5 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 to 4 tablespoons  molasses

In a separate bowl, sift together then combine with the wet ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon allspice

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cloves

2 teaspoons ginger

1 cup crushed gingerbread cookies (I like President's Choice English Style Gingersnaps)

Butter and lightly flour a 10-cup Bundt pan** and fill with batter. Bake at 325F/160C for approximately one hour and 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack and dust with powdered sugar or frost with creamcheese icing (recipe below)! Store in airtight container or refrigerate.

**for the cake in the photograph, I filled it only 2/3 and then used a mini bundt pan for the remaining batter so I could stack the two.

Cream Cheese Icing (optional)

With a mixer on medium speed, beat together until smooth:

1, 4 ouncepackage cream cheese, softened

1-1/2 tablespoon butter, softened

Gradually add and mix on low until smooth: 

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The best part is, this cake makes an AWESOME "french toast" if you have any left over the next day!  Just slice up the cake, dip in a mixture of eggs and buttermilk, sprinkle with cinnamon and bake or put it on the griddle...YUMMO!