Gingerbread Castle Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease or spray bottoms and sides of four 8-inch square pans. In large bowl, beat 1 cake mix, 1 cup of the water, 1/2 cup of the oil and 3 eggs using electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter between 2 pans. Bake 2 pans at a time for 23 to 29 minutes (26 to 34 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining cake mix, water, oil and eggs. Chill cooled cake in freezer 45 minutes before cutting, to reduce crumbs.
• Spoon frosting into large bowl. Stir in enough food color until desired pink color.
• Using serrated knife, cut off domed top from each cake so they will be flat when stacked. On tray, place 1 cake, cut side down; spread 1/3 cup frosting over top. Add second cake, cut side down; spread top with 1/3 cup frosting. Add third cake, cut side down; do not frost.
• Cut fourth cake into quarters. Spread small amount of frosting on center of cake, about the size of a cake quarter. Place 1 quarter, cut side down, on top of frosting. Spread top of stacked cake quarter with 1 tablespoon frosting. Place second quarter on top of first quarter; spread top with 1 tablespoon frosting. Add third quarter; do not frost. Cut fourth quarter into quarters to create four 2-inch squares. Spread a small dollop of frosting on the top center of the second tier of cakes. Place one 2-inch piece on the center; spread top with frosting. Top with one more 2-inch piece. (Discard remaining 2 pieces.)
• Spread thin layer of frosting over layered cake to seal in crumbs. Freeze cake 30 to 60 minutes.
• Frost pointed-end cones with frosting; roll in pink sugar. Frost cake with remaining frosting. Place 1 upside-down cone on each corner of the first cake layer and 1 on top cake layer for center steeple. Top each cone with a candy star.
• Place sugar cubes around edges of the first and second layers. Top each of the 4 corner sugar cubes with a gum ball. Attach 2 cookies on one side of first layer to create doors. Cut 2 additional cookies to desired size for windows; place each cookie on opposite sides of doors. Cut remaining cookie in half; place 1 half in center of second layer to create accent window. Pipe on window panes and doorknobs with white icing. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• GINGERBREAD CASTLE:.
• **For my gingerbread structures, I like to build their general shape out of cardboard first. This is a great way to address any structural issues before it's too late. They also give you an amazing stencil to use to cut out your cookie shapes and then later they're great for preventing any mess when you're pouring candy glass windows into your finished cookies.
• In a stand mixer beat butter and sugar until creamy, add molasses and eggs. In another bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Once done slowly mix into wet ingredients and stir until dough ball forms. Wrap softball sized portions in foil and chill until ready to use.
• Heat oven to 360 degrees fahrenheit.
• Line cookie sheets with parchment and roll dough directly onto cookie sheets. Using flour to prevent sticking. Cut out shapes using homemade stencils and save scraps for the next sheet.
• Baking time varies depending on how large your cookie is. Large cookies can take 18 minutes and small decorative pieces can be done in as little as 5 minutes. So keep an eye on them. Once baked, remove from oven (and here's my secret to getting a smooth cookie -- immediately after removing a batch from the oven, place a sheet of parchment over the top and using a slightly smaller baking sheet press, slide and swivel the smaller sheet on top until perfect. Allow cookies to cool before removing and place on paper towels. Do any candy glass windows BEFORE assembling.
• Advice and pointers: Assembling is my personal favorite part, but be sure to have a lot of patience and go slowly. Don't let go of any pieces unless you're positive they're secure and if you're unsure, use various kitchen items as supports -- things get pretty jenky in my kitchen during this process. Know that cookies will break here and there, make extra of critical pieces if you have the time and keep in mind you're doing something fun and when things go wrong, it's just a lesson for the future -- at least that's what I tell myself when I'm facing a kitchen catastrophe :D.
• CANDY GLASS:.
• Mix sugar, water, corn syrup and tartar in a large pot on medium/high heat. Stir constantly until mixture begins to boil. Stop stirring and place candy thermometer on the edge of the pot with the temp gauge submerged into sugar syrup. This part takes FOREVER (20 or so minutes) so set up a chair next to the stove and grab a magazine/book/laptop and keep an eye on the thermometer. Allow to heat to 300 degrees and immediately remove from heat. Stir and mix in two drops blue food coloring. Have cookies clean and resting face up on a very flat surface covered in a aluminum foil. Use your cardboard stencil over your cookie and pour candy glass into your cutouts using a bent tea spoon or small ladle. Once poured, immediately lift stencil off and clear any sugar strands that occur.
• Advice and pointers: This is one of those things you should set a lot of time aside for and prepare yourself with a lot of patience. Having a plate warmer to set the pot of hot sugar on near your workstation is a great way to give yourself a bit more time to work with each batch. Depending on how many windows you have to do, you'll be needing to make several batches. As soon as one batch begins to harden, you need to cut your losses and discard it (I've learned this the hard way). This stuff is also INSANELY hot so be very careful and make sure no pets, children or other obstacles are around when working with candy glass!
• ROYAL ICING for GINGERBREAD CASTLE:.
• ( I made this batch probably 6 times throughout the project).
• In a stand mixer beat egg whites till frothy and incorporate sugar until smooth. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients little bits at a time until the color you desire is achieved.
• Advice and pointers: Because you're using raw egg whites and salmonella is a risk, always use fresh eggs from a reliable source and don't allow unused frosting to sit out for more than an hour or so. Any unused frosting can be covered with a damp towel to prevent drying and retain freshness. Keep in mind the longer you work with a single batch the darker the color will become, so when initially mixing, keep that in mind.
• ROYAL ICING FOR HOLLY, WREATHS AND CHRISTMAS TREES:.
• Using any used gingerbread dough, cut out and shape christmas trees and bake. Using a small star tip (I actually bent mine with a small hammer to get the perfect shape) pipe royal icing all over giver bread and decorate with sugar beads which you'll then need to tediously paint.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin, molasses and orange zest (mixture will appear curdled)., In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt and chili pepper. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Stir in pumpkin seeds., Pour batter into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 28-32 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with toppings as desired.