As holiday season approaches, try this festive gingerbread

Sticky, spicy and full of cranberries, this gingerbread is perfect for the holidays. The recipe has been designed to make ahead, and will taste as good two days after baking as it does on the same day. (It will keep for four to five days.)

To store it, wrap it well, stick it in the fridge and then bring to room temperature before serving.

Whipped cream or crème fraîche, spiked with a little bourbon if you like, is nice on the side.

Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

2 cups (8 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup granulated sugar

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter

ž cup dark brown sugar

½ cup whole milk

½ cup maple syrup

¼ cup molasses

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (from 1-inch piece)

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.

Time: 1½ hours, plus cooling; makes 8 to 10 servings.