Happy Frozen Friday! After so much anticipation, Frozen 2 officially releases today! Frozen isn’t one of my favorite Disney movies, but I am excited to see what the next chapter brings.
Frozen 2 seems less winter focused than the first movie, but I still heavily associate it with winter, especially since Elsa has ice magic. After seeing Nordic Ware’s line of Frozen 2 bakeware, I was captivated by the beautiful snowflake pans. Therefore, I chose to make this delicious gingerbread snowflake in the large snowflake pan to celebrate the new movie!
Gingerbread is one of my favorite winter treats as I love the rich, spicy flavor. I usually have gingerbread in the form of cookies, but when I saw a recipe for a gingerbread cake, I thought it would be a fun twist. This recipe comes from one of my favorite bakers, Mary Berry, but I have made some adaptations.
As with most gingerbreads, one of the main ingredients is molasses. There are three different kinds of molasses: light, dark, and blackstrap. The flavor of the gingerbread depends heavily on what kind you use. The original recipe for this cake calls for blackstrap molasses, which is not typically used in baking. I was a little hesitant and so I also tried two versions–one with blackstrap molasses and one with dark molasses.
What I found was that both the dark and blackstrap molasses made tasty gingerbread cakes. However, there were some differences in the flavor. The dark molasses created a cake with a lighter molasses flavor. This meant you could taste the ginger more and so the cake was overall a bit spicier. The blackstrap molasses created a cake with a rich, deep molasses flavor that covered more of the spices. I found it to be more of a molasses cake than gingerbread. Both cakes were tasty, but in the end, I preferred the dark molasses version as it tasted closer to the spicy gingerbread cookies that I like.
If you would prefer to have a cake with more molasses flavor, you can definitely use this recipe, just use blackstrap molasses in place of the dark molasses. Everything else remains the same!
To make this cake, you’ll start with combining the sugar, molasses, and butter in a saucepan on the stove. Once melted and combined, transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the flour and spices. Let this rest for a minute while you warm some milk in a saucepan. The milk needs to be a little warm, so make sure to watch it carefully so it doesn’t come to a boil. Once warm, stir in the baking soda and then add to the rest of the batter.
Given that the snowflake mold is so intricate, make sure to fully grease the pan before you pour the batter into it. I used what felt like a ton of cooking spray, but it was worth it in the end as the cake came out easy. If desired, you can also sift some flour over the mold after greasing. Given the amount of cooking spray I used, I didn’t think this was necessary, but it is an option.
Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before trying to remove it. I used some oven mitts to help me handle pan. To un-mold the cake, flip the pan onto a wire cooling rack. Give it a good tap and hopefully the cake will slid out. If you have trouble, you can try running a small spatula or knife around the outside of the pan to loosen the cake from the sides.
After the cake has cooled completely, and just before you’re ready to serve it, use a small mesh strainer to sift some powered sugar on the top of the cake. Don’t do it too early or the sugar will melt back into the cake. I also added a few white pearl sprinkles on the ends of each part of the snowflake. The powered sugar isn’t necessary for taste, so if you would rather leave your snowflake plain, that’s totally okay!
For everyone seeing Frozen 2 today, enjoy! Let me know what you think!
Anna’s Gingerbread Snowflake
Venture into the unknown with this Frozen inspired snowflake cake! Packed with molasses and spices, this fluffy gingerbread is the perfect way to celebrate the release of Frozen 2!
Ingredients
Gingerbread
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup dark or robust molasses
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ pieces candied ginger, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg, beaten
Decorations
- powered sugar, for dusting
- white pearl sprinkles
Instructions
Gingerbread
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Preheat oven to 325 F. Coat snowflake pan with cooking spray. Make sure it gets into all of the crevices.
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In a small bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, ground cinnamon. Set aside.
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In a small saucepan, heat butter, sugar, and molasses over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and transfer to a medium bowl.
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Stir flour mixture into the molasses mixture. Beat in eggs and candied ginger pieces. Set aside.
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Warm milk in a small saucepan. Add the baking soda and stir to combine. Pour into the gingerbread mixture, beating gently to combine.
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Pour batter into prepared snowflake pan.
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Bake for 30 minutes, until cake is spring to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Just before serving, sift powdered sugar over the top of the cake. Add white pearl sprinkles to the edges and center.
Recipe Notes
adapted from Mary Berry