3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 cup buttermilk
Cream Cheese Frosting
Crunch Topping
Strawberry Sauce
Garnish: strawberries
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg, crystallized ginger, and molasses, beating until blended.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition.
Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool on wire racks. Split layers horizontally in half.
Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Pat Crunch topping on top and sides. Serve with Strawberry Sauce. Garnish, if desired.
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar, beating until blended. Stir in vanilla.
Crunch Topping
1 cup chopped pecans
8 to 10 gingersnaps, broken
Bake pecans in a shallow pan at 350, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until toasted. Combine pecans and gingersnaps in food processor bowl; pulse 3 to 4 times or until mixture is coarsely chopped.
Strawberry Sauce
1 1/2 quarts strawberries, divided
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons framboise liqueur
Set aside 12 strawberries with hulls for cake garnish; remove hulls from remaining strawberries. Mash 2 cups of hulled strawberries with a potato masher.
Process remaining hulled berries and next 3 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Pour over mashed berries; stir gently. Cover and chill up to 8 hours.
