Gingerbread Ricotta Tart

Directions

1. Gingerbread Dough
2. Get your baking shoes on. Whisk together the flour with the baking soda, baking powder, and the spices.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar, until creamy and light.Add in the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract. Make sure you scrape all the molasses goodness out of your measuring cup! Mix until well incorporated. Scrape the sides as needed.
4. Next, mix the flour mixture together with the molasses mixture. It will form a soft, pliable dough.
5. Shape into two flat discs and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes. Take the time to write that thank you note you've been meaning to write.
6. Use this dough for cookies (3" cookies should be baked at 375F for about 4-5 minutes) or for a ricotta tart (below).

1. Gingerbread Ricotta Tart
2. First, place a water bath in the oven (a large pan half full of hot water) and preheat it to 350F.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, eggs, and heavy cream.
4. Next, roll out the gingerbread dough to about 1/4". Grab a 9" springform pan. Trace a circle the diameter of the pan and cut it out. Place this circle of dough in the pan. Press the scraps of the dough up the sides, about 1".
5. If your springform pan leaks, now is the time to hermetically seal it was aluminum foil. I won't tell you why I know this. Pour the creamy batter into the pan.
6. Bake in the water bath for 45-50 minutes. I recommend turning off the oven after about 45 minutes. Crack open the door and let the cake cool in the oven, slowly - about 3 hours. This will help prevent the crust from shrinking away from the cake and causing a gap. Mine went into the fridge a little too soon.
7. Cool completely. Slice and eat with lingonberry jam, a cup of hot tea, and a kitty cat curled up on your lap.