Gingerbread Torte Food

GINGERBREAD I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Grease and lightly flour one 8 inch square baking pan.
• Cream shortening and sugar until light. Add the egg and molasses and beat thoroughly.
• Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, and ground cinnamon.
• Bring water to a boil and add alternately with flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy.

GINGERBREAD LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. with rack in lowest position. Sift flour, baking powder, spices, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add sugar; mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add butter; mix until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add molasses and egg yolks; mix until dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll two-thirds of the dough into a 12-inch round, 1/4 inch thick. Fit into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Spread jam over bottom of shell; refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
• Roll out remaining dough between pieces of floured parchment paper to a 12-inch round, 1/4 inch thick. Transfer round with parchment to a baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut out shapes from round with dot and snowflake-shape cookie cutters. (If desired, reserve snowflake cutouts. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. and sprinkle tops with confectioners' sugar.) Transfer round to a baking sheet; refrigerate until cold and firm, about 30 minutes.
• Lightly beat egg white; brush over rim of tart shell. Carefully slide dough round over shell; press edges to adhere. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

GINGERBREAD TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of 3 greased 9-in. round baking pans with parchment; grease parchment., Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 1 egg at a time. Gradually beat in molasses. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Transfer to prepared pans., Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove parchment. Cool completely., Beat cream cheese, butter and lemon zest until blended; gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Spread or pipe 2/3 cup frosting between each layer. Top with remaining frosting. If desired, sprinkle with crystallized ginger. Store in refrigerator.

DARK CHOCOLATE TART WITH GINGERSNAP CRUST

Steps:

• For crust:
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Finely grind gingersnap cookies in processor (yielding 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 cups). Add melted butter and salt; process until moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Place pan on rimmed baking sheet.
• For filling:
• Combine finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and heavy whipping cream in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk over low heat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove saucepan from heat. Whisk egg yolks, egg, sugar, flour, ground black pepper, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Very gradually whisk chocolate mixture into egg mixture until smooth and blended. Pour chocolate filling into crust.
• Bake chocolate tart until filling puffs slightly at edges and center is softly set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to rack. Sprinkle chopped crystallized ginger over top. Cool tart in pan 20 minutes. Gently remove tart pan sides and cool tart completely. DO AHEAD: Chocolate tart can be made 1 day ahead. Cover tart and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
• Cut tart into thin wedges and serve.

PEACH TART WITH A GINGER CRUST

Steps:

• For the pastry, preheat oven to 350*F. Place flour, ginger, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a food processor. Cut butter into 1 to 2 tablespoon pieces and, with the machine running, add the pieces to processor, one at a time. Process until a ball of dough forms on top of the blade. Remove from machine.
• Press into a well greased 12" tart pan with removable bottom. Bake for about 10 minutes, just until the dough starts to set. Remove from the oven and cool while making the filling.
• For the filling, preheat oven to 350*F., if you haven't done it already. Arrange sliced peaches in concentric circles in cooled tart shell, filling the shell. In a food processor, place cream cheese, cream, and sugar, mix until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and rum extract and mix well. Pour over peaches and bake for about 30 minutes,or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or cold with lightly whipped cream and/or caramel sauce. Enjoy!

GINGERBREAD TORTE

Steps:

• Grease three 9-in. round baking pans. Line with waxed paper; grease and flour the paper. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk. Spoon into prepared pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
• In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter. Add lemon peel. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Place on cake on a serving platter. Spread with about 2/3 cup frosting; repeat layers twice. Refrigerated until serving.

CHOCOLATE & GINGER TORTE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3-4. Butter and line a 23cm round springform tin with a disc of buttered baking parchment. Lightly dust the inside of the tin with cocoa and tip out excess.
• Put the chocolate and butter into a medium-size heatproof bowl, add the ginger wine and set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• Tip both the sugars into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer and add the egg yolks. Whisk until pale and light. Pour the melted chocolate and butter into the yolks and stir until smooth. With another large, spotlessly clean bowl and whisk, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they just hold a stiff peak.
• Sift the almonds and ginger into the chocolate mixture and fold in using a large metal spoon. Add one-third of the egg whites and stir in to loosen the mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites until combined.
• Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and gently spread level using a palette knife. Gently warm the ginger preserve until it's just spreadable and carefully spoon onto the cake in small dollops. Spoon over the remaining chocolate mixture, spread level and bake just below the middle shelf of the oven for 50 mins-1 hr until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a moist crumb attached. Allow the cake to cool in the tin and don't be dismayed if the top sinks and cracks.
• To make the ganache icing, tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Then add the cream, butter and ginger wine. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until melted and velvety smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
• Carefully run a palette knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it, then put on a serving plate. Spread the ganache over the top, and leave to set before serving.

CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH MAPLE WHIPPED CREAM

Steps:

• Make cake:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; spray paper. Sift flour and next 6 ingredients into medium bowl. Mix in crystallized ginger.
• Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in brown sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Gradually beat in molasses, then 1 cup boiling water. Mix in grated orange peel. Gradually mix in dry ingredients.
• Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer pan to rack and cool 15 minutes. Run knife around pan sides. Turn cake out onto rack; peel off paper. Cool.
• Make filling and frosting:
• Beat cream and maple syrup in large bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Cut cake horizontally into 3 equal layers. Transfer 1 cake layer, cut side up, to platter. Spread 1 1/2 cups whipped cream mixture over. Repeat layering with 1 cake layer and 1 1/2 cups whipped cream mixture. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread remaining whipped cream over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle crystallized ginger atop cake around edge. Garnish with orange peel strips. Cover with cake dome; chill at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.

GINGERBREAD PUMPKIN TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven 350. Lightly spray 2 flan or torte pans with vegetable spray. Place parchment paper cut in circles to fit the bottom of each pan. Prepare gingerbread per box instructions. Divide between the 2 flan or torte pans. Bake 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven cool on non stick cooling racks. Cool 10 minutes. Turn over with rack in place. Peel off parchment circles gently.
• In 2 qt. bowl whisk pudding into milk, mix well. Whisk in pumpkin, mix until smooth. Gently fold in 3 cups Cool Whip.
• Place Gingerbread cakes on serving trays. Divide pudding mixture between gingerbread cakes. (If using pecans, now is the time to sprinkle over pudding mixture on cake).
• With remaining Cool Whip fill a decorating bag with star tip and decorate around the top edge, or however you prefer. Combine cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle over entire top of cake. You can refrigerate overnight, if so do not put Cool Whip on until you are ready to serve.