Mini Gingerbread Cake with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe I created was originally for and published in Entertain & Celebrate: Christmas 2020 magazine.

Makes 1 (2-layer) 6-inch cake

Cake:

1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
½ cup whole milk, room temperature
½ cup molasses
½ tablespoon fresh peeled, grated ginger
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting:

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
16 ounces confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Garnish: fresh cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray 2 (6-inch) round cake pans with baking spray and flour.
For cake: In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed for 1 minute. Add brown sugar, and beat at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and and beat at medium-high speed for 1 minute. With the mixer at low speed, gradually add milk, molasses, grated ginger, and vanilla. Increase speed to medium, and beat for 2 minutes. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed until just combined. Divide batter between prepared pans.
Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely on wire rack.
For frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese until combined and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With mixer at low speed, gradually add confectioners’ sugar. Increase speed to medium-high, and beat until fully combined and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Add lemon zest, juice, and salt; beat until fully combined, about 1 minute.
To assemble, place one cake layer on a cake plate. Using a pastry bag, pipe half of frosting on top of cake layer. Chill in refrigerator for 5 minutes. Top frosting with second cake layer. Pipe remaining half of frosting on top of second layer as desired. Garnish with sugared cranberries, if desired.