Cranberry Jam with Ginger and Orange

After a long break from blogging it´s time to come back to my favorite hobby. Until recently, I was still in the Christmas mood. It's hard to get over your favorite holiday and time of the year, but I was longing for the peace and relaxation I got. I guess I still wanted to relax and take things slowly. Lazy days be gone!

A while ago I bought a big bag of cranberries, and I had many ideas on how to use them, but I kept postponing all of them. Well the cranberries were not getting any fresher and the best option was to make some good jam with them. After all, nothing beats the taste of homemade jam or jelly.

The recipe is straight forward and really good. It is both tangy and sweet with the beautiful aromas of ginger and jam. The jam is perfect to smear on fresh bread, especially if it´s a sourdough bread, for breakfast or as a quick snack or dessert.

Let´s go to the recipe
The batch I made was enough to fill 3 medium sized jars. You will need:

• 450 g fresh or frozen cranberries
• 250 g sugar
• 100 g orange juice 
• 100 g water
• 3 strips of orange peel
• 20 g finely chopped or grated ginger

Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottom pan, mix well and let the jam cook for at least an hour on a very gentle heat.

The cranberries will burst then melt as they bubble away. After an hour, fill your sterilized jars with the hot jam and seal well. Let them cool completely before you put them in the fridge.

Now you are ready to spread this beautiful burgundy jam on your bread or brioche or to use it as a filling in cakes or cookies.

Ginger, Orange and Chocolate Bundt Cake with Cointreau Ganache!

The 15th of November is the National Bundt cake day. Bundt pans come in different shapes and sizes but they always produce beautiful looking cakes with minimal efforts from your part. My favorite is the traditional gugelhupf pan. I purchased some Bundt pans a while ago and I felt it's time to put them to good ause nd celebrate the extra something these pans bring to the baking world.

The gugelhufp is perfect for the approaching holiday seasons and it will help you make beautiful cakes, brioches or regular breads. As the idea of the Bundt Day is to encourage people to prepare for the Christmas Holidays, I decided to make a cake using flavors inspired by those common in Christmas desserts. I relied on ginger, orange and chocolate to achieve a beautifully flavored cake. The result is a slightly spicy, refreshing and chocolaty one, with a rich, moist and fudgy texture that can be served as it is with perhaps a light sprinkle of dusting sugar or a glaze. After some hesitation, I finally decided to top the cake with a chocolate and cointreau ganache to reinforce the chocolate and orange aroma.

Ok now let´s bundt!

The mold I used has the capacity of 10 cups and for it you need:

• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 150 g soft butter
• 160 g white sugar, 80 g brown sugar
• 100 g chocolate, melted and cooled
• 30 g cocoa powder
• 200 g cake flour
• 10 g baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 150 ml whole milk or cream
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 tsp and 1/2 of grated fresh ginger and 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cointreau (optional)

First sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In your mixing bowl, beat the sugar, butter, orange zest and ginger until creamy and well combined.

Add the eggs one by one, making sure they combine well before adding the next egg then add the cointreau. Add the chocolate, and mix again at a low speed.

Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, 1/3 then add half the milk, another 1/3 flour, the rest of milk and finish with the flour.

Pour the mixture in your greased pan and bake between 45 to 50 min in a preheated oven (175C) or until a skewer comes out clean, Leave in the pan for 10 min then unmold and  leave it to cool on a cooling rack.

For the ganache:

• 150 g finely chopped chocolate
• 125 ml cream
• 25 g butter
• 2 tsp cointreau (or vanilla extract)

Gently heat the cream and pour over the chopped chocolate, whisk until all the chocolate has melted. Add the butter and cointreau and whisk again and finally pour over the cake while it is still runny!

Enjoy