Sourdough Gingerbread Cake with Cranberries
This old-fashioned Sourdough Gingerbread Cake gets a festive, bright twist with the inclusion of fresh cranberries. It's an easy sourdough discard holiday treat that will fill your kitchen with the fragrance of warm spices and molasses.
Yield or Serving: 16 Slices
Equipment
- 1 9x9 Pan
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Stand Mixer, optional but recommended
Ingredients
- 300 g All-purpose Flour, 2 ½ cups
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
- 2 ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Ground Cloves
- 325 g Unsulphered Molasses, 1 cup
- 180 g Hot Water, ¾ cup
- 120 g Sourdough Discard, or active starter, ½ cup
- 113 g Unsalted Butter, softened, ½ cup, 2 stick
- 100 g Granulated Sugar, ½ cup
- 1 Egg, room temperature
- 1 TBS Vanilla Extract
- 150 g Fresh Cranberries, roughly chopped, 1 ½ cups
- 2 TBS Raw Sugar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC).Butter the baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.300 g All-purpose Flour, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda, 2 ½ tsp Ground Ginger, 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon, ½ tsp Ground Cloves
- In a large liquid measuring cup or mixing bowl, whisk together the molasses, hot water, and sourdough discard until most of the starter is broken up. There may still be some floating pieces.325 g Unsulphered Molasses, 180 g Hot Water, 120 g Sourdough Discard
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (see notes for mixing by hand) fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula as needed.Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix together.On the lowest speed, alternate mixing the dry ingredients and molasses mixture. Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients followed by half of the wet ingredients. Repeat and end with the last third of dry ingredients. Mix just until no flour specks remain.Fold in the roughly chopped fresh cranberries.113 g Unsalted Butter, 100 g Granulated Sugar, 1 Egg, 1 TBS Vanilla Extract, 150 g Fresh Cranberries
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top with the spatula. Sprinkle optional demerara or raw sugar on top.Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, the middle of the cake is springy to the touch, and the sides of the cake pull away from the sides of the pan.Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before turning out and serving. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or a layer of vanilla frosting.2 TBS Raw Sugar
Notes
- To mix by hand, melt the butter and add it and the sugar to the wet ingredients mixture. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Follow my guide for more detailed instructions and photos to make this recipe step-by-step.
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