Cranberry Ginger Beer Bread

Yesterday I posted a beer bread recipe with flavours that go beautifully with a spaghetti and salad supper.  Today's recipe is a variation on that recipe, but with a very different flavour profile. 

This quick bread is a little sweeter, but savoury enough to accompany a meal centered on chicken or pork. Served warm with butter and honey, it would make an afternoon or evening cup of tea into a very special treat.

Instead of beer, I use a pool Jamaican style ginger beer for this recipe. It's less sweet than ginger ale, with a strong fresh ginger flavour; a fast, easy way to bring bright flavour to a simple bake.

To make this bread, you'll need:

• 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup of dried cranberries 
• 1 12-ounce bottle of Jamaican style ginger beer
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and use a whisk or a fork to stir them together. (A whisk or fork won't compact the flour. A spoon would.)

Add in the dried cranberries and stir them in so they're coated with the dry mixture. (This helps keep them suspended within the batter.)

Add the Jamaican style ginger beer, then the fresh ginger and the melted butter. Stir until the ingredients are well combined but don't over-mix the batter. Lumpy is okay.

Spoon the batter into a buttered or oiled  9 x 5-inch loaf pan. It'll take about 45 minutes to bake at 375F. 

If you portion the batter into smaller containers you can shorten the baking time. Half pint/125 ml Mason jars work perfectly. The smaller loaves cook in about half the time it takes to bake a 9 x 5-inch loaf, and they're easy to present in a bread basket; no slicing required. 

This quick bread is always best served hot from the oven. If you have leftovers and want to reheat them, you can slice them and toast the slices, or you can wrap the leftovers in foil and reheat them in a 350F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.