Gingerbread Jars With Cranberry Curd Food

FRESH GINGER GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 mini (5 3/4x3-inch) loaf pans.
• Combine flour, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in bowl.
• Combine molasses, milk, 1/3 cup sugar, butter, ginger and egg in bowl; beat until well mixed. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until well mixed.
• Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 28-33 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely. ,
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar before slicing, if desired.

STICKY CRANBERRY GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-inch square or round baking pan with parchment.
• 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 cranberries form 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

GINGERBREAD JARS WITH CRANBERRY CURD

Steps:

• Make the gingerbread: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-by-8-inch cake pan with a little softened butter and line with parchment paper, letting any excess hang over the edges of the pan.
• Place the orange juice and raisins in a measuring cup and set aside to soak. In a mixing bowl add the melted butter, molasses and sour cream, whisking until well combined. Add 1 2/3 cups of flour, the ginger, baking soday, cinnamon, cloves and salt and whisk together until combined. Drain the raisins, then add them to the batter along with the remaining 1 cup of flour and the crystallized ginger. Combine with a silicone spatula, then pour into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cool completely before cutting the cake into 1-inch cubes.
• While the cake bakes, make the cranberry curd: Into a saucepan set over medium heat, add the sugar, cranberry juice and salt and whisk until smooth. Once the sugar is dissolved, whisk in the egg yolks, then add the butter. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until the cranberry curd thickens and reaches 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat and transfer the curd to a bowl to cool.
• To assemble: Place a few pieces of the gingerbread cubes in a small jar, add 2 tablespoons of the cranberry curd on top of the gingerbread and top with whipped cream.

PEAR-CRANBERRY GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Pour 1/4 cup melted butter into a 13x9-in. baking dish; sprinkle with 1/3 cup brown sugar. Arrange pears and cranberries in a single layer over brown sugar., In a small bowl, beat the brewed tea, sugar, molasses, egg and remaining butter and brown sugar until well blended. Combine the remaining ingredients; gradually beat into tea mixture until blended., Spoon over pears. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm.