Every Thanksgiving, my whole family on my mother’s side gets together to celebrate and celebrate. They are all extraordinary cooks. And even that may be an understatement. They always try to outdo the year before with all their delicious creations. The dessert table is nothing less than incredible. Each and every type of dessert makes its appearance and each and every one of them is homemade.
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1¼ cups of brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
¾ cup of milk
2½ cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of ginger
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoons of salt
2 cups of crushed gingerbread cookies
CREAM CHEESE GLAZE
24 ounces cream cheese, softened
9 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place butter and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl for 3 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
Add vanilla and milk and beat until smooth.
Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and salt and beat until smooth.
Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.
Pour the dough evenly between the two molds.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Turn the molds over to carefully place the cakes on the cooling racks. Allow to cool completely.
While cakes are cooling, make a cream cheese glaze.
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth and creamy.
When the cakes are completely cooled, carefully cut each cake in half to make four circular layers.
Put some icing on the cake support. Carefully place the bottom half of one of the cakes on top of the portion to help secure it in place. Place a generous amount of frosting in the center of that layer and carefully glaze the outer edges. Place your top layer on top. Repeat the frosting instructions until all four layers are complete. Carefully glaze the outside of the cake.
Place flattened gingerbread cookies on the frosted outer edges.