892. Gingerbread Cookie Icebox Cake

For me, this is a new-age type of cake. It is not a cake in the traditional sense at all; rather it is composed of staked cookies, with sweetened whipped cream sandwiching the layers in between. Given the concept, one can imagine how the varieties can be endless.
The cookies used in this cake are ginger-molasses, seasonally spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. I use my home made date molasses which I annually stock up on at the end of Summer, but you can use plain unsulfured molasses too. Assembling the cake and refrigerating it overnight softens the cookies and make the cake easily slice-able.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup molasses

For the assembly:
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

To make the cookies, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl.
With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well.
Add molasses and beat well.
Slowly add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Shape dough into two disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350F, with racks in upper and lower positions.
On generously floured pieces of parchment paper, roll out dough to about 1/16 inch thick. Brush off excess flour. Slide dough and parchment onto baking sheets, and freeze 10 minutes.
Using a 2 3/8-inch fluted cutter, cut out rounds, rerolling scraps to get a total of about 72.
Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze 10 minutes.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks to cool completely.
With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla just until stiff peaks form. Arrange 7 cookies in a circle on a cake stand or a serving plate, sides touching; place 1 cookie in center. Spread 3/4 cup whipped cream over cookies, leaving a 3/4-inch cookie border.
Repeat, making 8 more layers each of cookies and whipped cream. Chill overnight for best results.

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