Gingerbread Icebox Cake with Blood-Orange Syrup

A stunning icebox cake is exceptionally simple to assemble: Arrange wafer-thin gingerbread cookies in circles and spread each layer with vanilla-infused whipped cream.

Source: Martha Stewart Living, December 2007

Servings

Ingredients

All-purpose flour, for dusting
1/2 recipe Molasses-Gingerbread Cookies dough
4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Syrupy Blood Oranges

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a generously floured piece of parchment, roll dough to 1/16 inch thick. Brush off excess flour. Slide dough and parchment onto baking sheets, and freeze for 10 minutes.
2. Using a 2 3/8-inch fluted cutter, cut out 72 rounds. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze 10 minutes.
3. Bake cookies for 5 minutes. Remove sheets from oven, and tap them firmly on counter to flatten cookies. Return to oven, rotating sheets, and bake until cookies are set and edges have darkened slightly, about 5 minutes more. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
4. Beat cream, sugar, and vanilla just until stiff peaks form. Arrange 7 cookies in a circle on a cake stand or a serving plate (cookies should be touching one another). Place 1 cookie in center. Carefully spread 3/4 cup whipped cream evenly over cookies, leaving a 3/4-inch cookie border. Repeat, making 8 more layers each of cookies and whipped cream. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. Just before serving, spoon some of the oranges and their syrup over top. Serve remaining oranges on the side.

Cook's Notes

You will need a 2 3/8-inch fluted round cutter or a standard round cutter. You can make the cake in advance and refrigerate it overnight; the portion of each cookie covered with cream will soften, making the cake easy to slice, although the longer you store the cake, the more the portions sticking out around the edges will begin to droop.