UBS Virtual Cooking Class: Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

*Please note: This is an internal event for UBS employees only. This event is virtual. Please register using your UBS email address as this is an internal company event.*

Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

Melissa Clark

Serves 8 – 10

2 cups / 8 ounces / 266 grams fresh or frozen cranberries

½ - 1 cup / 100 - 200 grams granulated sugar

1 stick / 4 ounces / 113 grams unsalted butter

⅔ cup / 133 grams dark brown sugar

½ cup / 120 milliliters whole milk

½ cup / 120 milliliters maple syrup

¼ cup / 60 milliliters molasses

1½ cups / 185 grams all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon / 5 grams ground ginger

½ teaspoon / 1 gram ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon / 3 grams baking powder

½ teaspoon / 3 grams kosher salt

¼ teaspoon / 1 gram baking soda

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

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

Optional Topping:

Cranberry Glaze & Dried Cranberries

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

2. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together cranberries, ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Stir the cranberries over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and cranberries form a sauce that is syrupy and bubbling thickly, about 10 minutes. Taste throughout and add more sugar as desired. Aim to have about half the cranberries broken down, with the remainder more or less whole.

3. 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 and then remove it from the heat. Do not 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 through 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 in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire baking rack and let the cake cool completely before eating it.

Cranberry Glaze

½ cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1 orange, for zest and juice

Pinch cinnamon

Pinch kosher salt

1 cup powdered sugar, plus more as needed

1. Place the cranberries in a small saucepot and add a pinch of orange zest and about 1 tbsp of orange juice, as well as a small pinch of both cinnamon and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over low heat for about 8 – 10 minutes, until cranberries break down and release juices; stir often and lower heat or add a splash of orange juice if the bottom of the pan is very dry. Lightly smash cranberries with a potato masher or the side of a rubber spatula.

2. Remove cranberries from heat and puree; pass through a strainer into a large bowl. Add powdered sugar and mix until fully incorporated, with a spreadable and somewhat thin texture. If the mixture is too thick, add a small splash of orange juice; if the mixture is too thin, add more powdered sugar.

3. Be sure cake is cooled before adding glaze or it will melt off. Slowly drizzle glaze over cooled cake and spread with a small offset spatula. Top with a sprinkle of dried cranberries.

Host or Publisher UBS Weehawken