This cranberry gingerbread cake is unique and delicious. Don’t let the list of ingredients overwhelm you. This recipe is worth breaking out every measuring spoon you own.
The holiday season is the time to make this festive cake as fresh cranberries are readily available. At other times of the year when fresh cranberries might not be available, frozen can be used with good results.
The first step is to make the sticky cranberries. Similar to cranberry sauce but with less liquid, the cranberries break down and become bright and syrupy.
The recipe calls for a generous amount of ground ginger plus a tablespoon of fresh ginger. This double dose of ginger makes the cake really shine.
The cranberries are swirled into the batter just like marbling a cake batter.
This sticky cranberry gingerbread cake is a special treat, especially during the holidays. It can be made days in advance and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or dollop of whipped cream it is the perfect merry and fuss free dessert.
Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread Cake
12
servingsAdapted from NYT Cooking
Ingredients
2 cups (266g) fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 stick (113g) unsalted or lightly salted butter (I used Green Valley lactose free butter)
2/3 cup (133g) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (120g) whole milk
1/2 cup (120g) pure maple syrup
1/4 cup (60g) molasses
1 1/2 cups (185g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (scant if using salted butter) or 1/4 teaspoon + dash of Morton kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon (14g) finely grated fresh ginger
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Butter a 9-inch square pan or spray with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a small, heavy bottomed saucepan, stir together cranberries, granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Stir cranberries over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and cranberries form a sauce that is syrupy and bubbling thick, about 10 minutes. Aim to have about half the cranberries broken down, and the remainder more or less whole.
- In a separate saucepan, stir together the butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup and molasses over medium heat. Bring it to just barely a simmer, then remove it from the heat. Don’t let it come to a boil or the mixture may curdle.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda and black pepper. Beat in the butter-maple syrup mixture and then beat in the eggs. Stir in the fresh grated ginger.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan. Drop fat dollops of cranberry sauce onto the surface of the cake batter. Drag a long, slender knife through the batter in a swirly design, as if you are marbling a cake. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool until just warm. Remove cake from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before transferring to a serving platter. Once completely cool, cut into squares and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.