Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

I'm not making a Yule Log this year or any other complicated dessert because we have to go to Grandpa's house again and I don't feel like working in someone else's kitchen. But I still wanted to make something for us to enjoy and a recipe in the New York Times for Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread caught my eye. 

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS for 8-10 servings

2 cups (266 g) fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup/200 g granulated sugar

1 stick butter

2/3 cup /133 g dark brown sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup molasses

1.5 cups/185 g all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon/14 g grated fresh ginger (from 1-inch piece)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350F and line a 9" square or round pan with parchment

2. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan stir together cranberries, granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Stir the cranberries over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the cranberries for a sauce that is syrupy and bubbling thickly, about 10 minutes. Aim to have about half the cranberries broken down, with the remainder more or less whole.

3. In a separate saucepan stir together butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup, and molasses over medium heat. Bring it to just barely a simmer and then remove it from heat. Don't let it come to a boil or the mixture may curdle.

4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, 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 ginger.

5. Scrape the batter into the pan. Drop fat dollops of cranberry sauce onto the surface of the cake batter. Drag a long, slender knife into the batter in a swirly design, as if you are marbling a cake. Transfer the cake to the oven and bake it until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let it cool completely before eating it.

Here are the changes I made:

1. Used an 8" square pan because I don't have a 9" pan.
2. Used 10 oz of cranberries instead of 8 oz to enhance the cranberry taste.
3. Used light brown sugar and not dark because that's what I had.
4. Used 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger because I didn't have fresh ginger.
5. Brown sugar: 100 g instead of 133
6. Granulated sugar:  175 g instead of 200 g
7. Baked 63 minutes instead of 50

I used less sugar overall because readers commenting on the recipe said it was sufficiently sweet with in some cases even halving the sugar. It's probably true, I don't feel like my gingerbread lacked sweetness and maybe the sugar could be cut back even more. I'd probably use less maple syrup or omit it altogether.

I feel this recipe could benefit from a pinch of nutmeg and a teaspoon or two of vanilla.

I wouldn't increase the cranberry again because the taste is very cranberry forward - a bit too much I think.

I'd use a 9" round pan if I didn't have a 9" square, instead of putting it in an 8-inch square pan. It took longer to bake and the edges were getting dry, plus each piece is very tall. It would be more enjoyable to have thinner pieces.

I'd let the maple syrup mixture cool a bit before adding it to the dry ingredients. Instead, I dumped it right into the flour mixture and mixed it, but it's so hot coming off the stove I feared it could cook the eggs, so I ended up beating it for a while, with the mixer and then by hand, to help it cool. Once it cooled I tempered the eggs by putting a bit of the maple/flour mixture in the eggs and stirring it, and then drizzling the eggs super slowly into the mixer running on low. I had no problem with the eggs getting cooked, not sure if because of the steps I took or if it would have been all right even without that.

We sampled the gingerbread for dessert after a light dinner of salad. As always it's very satisfying to have dessert, especially when you have a light dinner.  This gingerbread is OK but it's not the absolute best Xmas dessert. It was a bit tart from so much cranberry, yet pretty sweet, and leaves a lingering aftertaste. Fun to try, but probably not our favorite!  Hopefully next year we'll celebrate at home and I can make a proper Yule Log.