Copycat Gingerbread Bundt Cakes from the Plaza Inn at Disneyland in Anaheim

Mini Bundt Cakes

• 2-1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp Ground Ginger
• 1-1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/4 tsp Ground Allspice
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 cup Butter Unsalted & Softened
• 1-1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 large Eggs
• 1/2 cup Molasses
• 1 cup Water

Apple Filling (Not required to make a delicious cake)

• 1 can Apple Pie Filling Homemade would be better, but this is an easy option.

Glaze/Frosting

• 3/4 cup Butter Unsalted & Softened
• 4-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 tbsp Milk
• Red Food Coloring
• Red and Green Sprinkles

Gingerbread Man Decoration

• 1 package Marzipan/Sweet Almond Paste Use Teddy Grahams as a quick alternative.

The Cakes

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, baking powder until they are evenly dispersed.
2. In a separate bowl, add the softened butter and granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture (starting on low speed and working up to high) until the butter is creamy.
3. Add your eggs, one at a time, to the bowl and continue mixing with the hand mixer (this time at low speed…and don't forget the eggs, which we did and ended up with an oven full of mini volcanoes).
4. Once the eggs are mixed evenly, add the molasses. Mix until combined and then slowly add the water.
5. Now that the wet ingredients are combined, add half of the dry ingredients and mix. Finish by combining the rest of the dry ingredients.
6. Another very important step is to butter -and- flour each mini bundt cake. We tried this with just oil and had to start over. You'll definitely want a coating of flour in your pans to make sure all of the cake comes out of the pan in one piece.
7. Place the mini bundt pans on a larger baking sheet and bake for 22 to 26 minutes at 350°F. Test with a toothpick (or a chopstick) to make sure it's fully cooked before pulling it out. Ours took 26 minutes.
8. Allow to cool part way, then remove them from the pans. Continue to let them cool completely before filling and frosting the cakes.

The Filling & Glaze/Frosting

1. The filling is easy – it's just a prepared apple pie filling and ready to go. We had to break up some of the larger apple pieces in ours. Set this aside for a minute.
2. For the frosting, combine the softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. Using a hand mixer (you'll probably have to clean off the cake-battered beaters) start by mixing slowly, then increase speed. You'll want a fluffy buttercream.
3. Remove a portion of frosting (about 1/2 cup) and add 6 to 8 drops of red food coloring. This will be the pillow for the gingerbread man to sit on.
4. Place your white frosting and red frosting into separate pastry/piping bags (or use Ziploc bags with the corner cut off like we do).

The Mini Gingerbread Man

1. We used a sweetened almond paste to make mini gingerbread men…completely by eye without any templates. We suggest printing a photo of a small gingerbread man and placing it underneath a piece of parchment paper to serve as a guide. We didn't do this and ended up with a variety of shapes and sizes.
2. An optional step is to use a bit of the frosting prepared earlier to make a bit of black frosting to use for the eyes and buttons. Also, if you don't have time for this, use Teddy Graham bear cookies and use either black or white frosting to add buttons and a face.