Gingerbread Layer Cake with Whipped Mascarpone Cream & Sparkling Cranberries

For the last seven years or so, my BF and I have held a Christmas Eve dinner for some very dear friends. For the first few, a new towering cake would be presented, i.e., spice with eggnog buttercream, chocolate with peppermint chocolate ganache and peppermint buttercream, whiskey soaked dark chocolate bundt, gingerbread roulade with eggnog filling, etc.

Then, this one. Moist, stout-spiked [Ed. note: HELLO], spicy gingerbread and mascarpone whipped cream icing–it has a deep, dark, mysterious flavor, yet tastes surprisingly light.  It tastes like Christmas.

For a while I had been making a similar recipe as a gingerbread loaf, but after discovering this layered-cake version (originally adapted from a Claudia Fleming recipe, who created it while she was pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern in New York; then adapted by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen), I knew the holiday dessert tradition was forever settled. No more auditions.
​
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
​
Number of servings: 8-10
Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen

NOTE: You’ll have up to 1 cup more whipped cream than you’ll need, which I use to frost the outside of the cake (not a fan of "naked" cakes, like the original recipe). If you wish to save the cream, it can stay stable for a couple days due to the added mascarpone. Start the cranberries the night before. 

NOTE: Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen says, "This recipe makes three thin cake layers. As most of us have two cake pans, at best, you could also make it into two thicker cake layers, giving it a little more baking time. Or, you could do as I did, which is to hold the last bit of batter in a bowl until the first layer comes out and can be unmolded. It holds up just fine at room temperature for an hour."

Ingredients
Sugared cranberries

• 1 cup (200 grams) plus ⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup (100 grams) fresh cranberries

Cake layers

• 1 cup (235 ml) oatmeal or Guinness stout
• 1 cup (235 ml) dark molasses (ideally, not blackstrap)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup (190 grams) packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
• ¾ cup (150 grams) vegetable or another neutral oil
• 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch of ground cardamom

Filling

• 2 cups (475 ml) heavy or whipping cream
• 6 tablespoons (45 grams) powdered sugar
• ½ cup (115 grams) mascarpone

Directions
Sugared cranberries

1. Bring 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup water to a gentle simmer (not a full boil) on the stove, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add cranberries. Pour mixture into a bowl and let syrupy cranberries chill in fridge overnight, or at least 8 hours.
2. The next morning, drain cranberries (can be saved for sweetening cocktails). Place remaining ⅓ cup sugar in a bowl and roll cranberries in it. Arrange them on a tray or plate and refrigerate for another 45 minutes to an hour, so that the sugar sets. (Will feel mostly dry to the touch.)

Cake layers

1. Heat oven to 350 °F. Butter and flour, or use a nonstick spray to coat three 9-inch round cake pans (see note above, if you have fewer) and line the bottom of each with a fitted round of parchment paper.
2. Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat; whisk in baking soda carefully (it will foam up). Cool to room temperature.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugars and oil. Whisk in eggs, then whisk in cooled stout-molasses mixture. Place dry ingredients in a fine-mesh sieve or sifter and shake over bowl. Stir until just combined.
4. Divide batter into prepared cake pans; you’ll have a little bit less than 2 cups or 515 grams of batter in each. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter-free. Cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes, then flip out onto cooling rack, carefully remove parchment paper (it’s sticky) and flip back right-side-up, letting each layer cool completely. You can hasten this along outside (if it’s cold) or in the freezer.

Whipped mascarpone cream 

1. Beat heavy cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl with whisk or electric beaters until soft peaks form.
2. Beat in mascarpone, one spoonful at a time, just until it disappears into the cream.

Assemble cake 

1. Place first cake layer on cake stand and level top with a serrated knife if it has domed. Spread with 1 cup whipped mascarpone.
2. Repeat twice, then smooth sides.
3. Decorate with sugared cranberries. Serve immediately, or keep refrigerated until needed.