Cranberry Gingersnap Ice Box Cake w Orange Liqueur

I love these holiday flavours together and think they have a place on every Thanksgiving and Christmas table - plus this no-bake recipe will give your oven a much needed break.

This recipe is beginner friendly, with the most difficult part being the cranberry curd, but I believe in you! Take the easy route and substitute the cranberry curd for a store bought lemon curd or a tart jam of your choice.

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Cranberry Gingersnap Icebox Cake w Orange Liqueur

Ingredients

For the cranberry curd

• 2 ½ cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• 1 oz orange liqueur (optional)
• Pinch of salt

For the cake

• 2 cups 35% whipping cream
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 oz orange liqueur (optional)
• 50 small gingersnaps (I used 1 300g box of Purity Ginger Snaps)

Instructions

1. In a medium pot, add the cranberries, orange zest and juice, and sugar and put on medium high heat. Bring to a simmer, then stir often until fruit bursts, about 3 minutes. Blend the mixture until only small flecks of the fruit remain. Strain the mixture to remove the seeds, and set aside to cool for 3 minutes.
2. To the cranberry mixture, add egg yolks and immediately whisk them in very quickly. You want to avoid scrambled eggs, so put your arm to work. Place over medium heat and whisk continuously until it steams and thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter, liqueur, and salt until butter melts and the mixture is homogenous. Put in a container and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
3. Whip your cream with the sugar with a hand mixer until you have medium peaks. Stir in vanilla and liquor. Set aside 1 cup of the whipped cream and ¼ cup of the cranberry curd for the garnish, leave them in the fridge.
4. Line a standard loaf pan with large pieces of plastic wrap so that there is a generous amount of overhang. Line the bottom with cookies - I used 8 cookies and broke 1 1/2 additional cookies into pieces to fill the gaps. Over the cookies, add ½ cup of the whipped cream mixture and smooth out with a spoon or spatula. Then add ¼ cup of the cranberry curd and smooth out with a spoon or spatula. Repeat this process until you have no cookies left, I did 5 layers of cookies. You want the last layer to be just cookies. Wrap up the cake with the plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
5. To serve, unwrap the plastic from the top layer and flip it onto your serving platter. Remove all the plastic wrap. Add your reserved cream onto the top and dollop spoonfuls of the cranberry curd, then using the back of a utensil, create dramatic swirls of the mixtures together. Slice and serve.