A (Gingerbread) Incantation

Technically this recipe is called Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread by the brilliant Melissa Clark on NYT Cooking. (gift link) But as it’s labeled in my files: An Incantation. Such is the magic and charm of this delicious cake filled with warm spices and citrus.

It’s got all the usual players, dark brown sugar (is there any other kind?), maple syrup, and molasses, as well as the fabled trinity of ginger, cinnamon and black pepper. But the seasonal wizardry kicks in with the addition of tart cranberries. For me cranberries – and gingerbread for that matter – must have citrus so in a departure from the original recipe I add a copious amount of orange zest and replace the single tablespoon of water listed in the original recipe with a good squeeze of the fresh juice.

I’ve only baked one so far this season but give me a couple of weeks and I’ll have the practice committed to memory. The moist, yes sticky, cake is a good keeper and in addition to an anytime treat, makes a delicious breakfast with hot black coffee. Which begs the question, should I add a cranberry gingerbread incantation to my gratitude list?

2+ cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
a rather large orange
½ cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
½ c milk
½ c maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses [[Edit: I left this, arguably the most important ingredient off the initial recipe!!!]]
1 ½ cup AP flour
1 T ground ginger (feel free to get heavy handed here, I’ll never tell)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper (see: ground ginger above)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 T. grated fresh ginger, again it’s okay to be profligate

Preheat oven to 350* and line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment. Of course you may decide to use a round baking pan, but I appreciate the democracy of portioning a square cake.

Zest orange and put aside. In a small saucepan, combine cranberries, granulated sugar and the juice of your now-naked orange. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, most of the cranberries pop, succumbing to a thick syrup bubbling away.

In a separate saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup and molasses over medium heat and bring to a bare simmer; remove from heat. The recipe says to avoid boiling so as not to curdle the mixture.

[[a brief apology, I’m about to ask you to use yet another kitchen container, but the time you’ll spend washing dishes is so very well spent.]]

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda and black pepper. And by sifting, I mean whisk well to break down any lumps. Using the same whisk, beat in butter/maple syrup mixture and incorporate eggs gently. Finally, stir in fresh ginger.

Scrape the lovely fragrant batter into the prepared pan. Now spoon fat dollops of the cranberry mixture onto the surface of the cake batter. Using a thin knife, swirl and marble the two together in a swooping motion filled with love.

Bake cake until the top is set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes depending on the reliability of your oven’s temperature gauge. I adore my ancient Wolf stove with its faint temperature markings but even I admit, it might be time for a new appliance.

Transfer the pan to a wire baking rack and let the cake cool completely before serving, tonight, tomorrow morning, again tomorrow for an afternoon snack, on repeat.