In a large bowl, stir together flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, cloves, allspice and cardamom until well mixed.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and dark brown sugar on medium speed for three minutes. Add molasses, an egg and vanilla extract and beat for another two minutes. Divide the dough into two balls, flatten to a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least three or four hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. After chilling, lightly flour a pastry board or countertop and roll the discs of dough until they're ¼-inch thick. If you roll the dough thinner, the cookies will be more on the crispy side. The dough will initially be hard after chilling, but keep going and it will start to roll. Periodically lift the disc to keep the dough from sticking to the surface.

Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into cookies. Reroll the scraps and continue to cut into cookies. As the dough sits, it will get warmer, making it stickier. If it becomes too sticky, pop it into the freezer for just a couple minutes, and it will quickly chill to become more workable.

Place the cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for eight minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes and then move to wire racks to cool completely.

For the icing, beat the egg whites with the orange and vanilla extracts in a mixing bowl until it's foamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low until the mixture comes together. Turn up the speed and beat for several minutes until stiff peaks form. If desired, stir in food coloring. Pour the icing into squeeze bottles and decorate. Allow to dry. Enjoy!