Friday, December 18, 2009

BLESSED IS THE 'SWEET' SEASON ~ CRANBERRY UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!"

~Hamilton Wright Mabie





CRANBERRY UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
~ Good old-fashioned holiday dessert (Detroit Free Press clipping)
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10 Tbsp. room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided
4 cups fresh cranberries plus 1 cup for garnish
1 1⁄4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1⁄4 tsp. salt
1 large room temperature organic egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2⁄3 cup milk
zest of 1 large orange
1⁄3 cup red currant jelly

1⁄2 cup unsweetened heavy cream (plus 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar)
or good vanilla ice cream


  • Preheat oven to 350ยบ. Adjust oven rack to lower quarter of oven.
  • Spread 4 Tbsp. of butter on bottom and sides of an iron skillet (heavier on the bottom). Sprinkle 1⁄2 plus 2 Tbsp. of sugar on bottom of pan. Place cranberries in pan. Set aside.
  • In large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 1⁄2 cup of sugar. Set aside.
  • In medium mixing bowl, beat remaining 6 Tbsp. butter until soft. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk. Mix until just combined Stir in orange zest. Pour batter over berries, smooth top and bake for 1 hours (top of cake will get very brown).
  • Remove from oven and cool on rack for 20 minutes. With a paring knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake. Put the serving plate on top of the pan and invert so cake unmold on the plate.
  • In small saucepan, heat jelly over low heat. Pour melted jelly over the entire surface of cake, bringing it to the edges with the back of the spoon. Let cool completely.
  • Just before serving, whip whipping cream and powered sugar.
  • Serve cake at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream. (8-10 servings)



17 comments:

  1. Oh now I love cranberries! Having a glass of cranberry juice right now.

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  2. Mmmm, I love cranberries. I'm making a big pan of apple crisp for the family get-together... simple, but pretty darn good! I use Granny Smith apples because the tart goes well with the sweet crumble topping.

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  3. I crave cranberries beginning Nov 1st, Michelle! Happy you have some snow to remind you of home :)

    You can never go wrong with a big pan of apple crisp, Monica! Everyone loves it! Now, where is our Christmas snow? Every place else seems to be getting the gift!

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  4. Yummy ... great photos! I can't wait to share some baking tomorrow. I was up late decorating my big tree in our house.

    Happy Christmas my friend... can't wait to try your yummy recipes this week!

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  5. Any recipe that includes the words "heavy cream" is automatically on my list of favorite recipes.

    donna

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  6. Hi Joey! Another wonderful-sounding recipe to copy! :-) Thanks. How are you?

    Christmas will soon be here. Time for families to gather. Time for sharing and making memories. Love to you.

    Today's word verifidation: bedbumm (ha! I had a terrible cold last week - describes me perfectly!)

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  7. Joey, I can just imagine this scrumptuous dessert, served warm with a spoonful of cold vanilla ice cream...having it melt slowly...sounds just delicious! Not to mention chrismassy, festive, fulfilling...
    Ronell

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  8. Have fun in the kitchen, Bren ... enjoyed your video ... your tree is lovely. Happy Holidays!

    I hear you, Donna :) Even with rich flourless chocolate cake!

    Hope you're feelin' better, Shady. Yes, a busy time ... actually grandboys have been spending a lot of time here with us, including last night. So enjoy having them near and seeing Christmas joy through their wondering eyes. Have a wonderful holiday season! BIG HUGS xxoo

    You're like me, Ronell .... love warm/cold dessert with melting ice cream. A favorite is my Cranberry Cobbler (http://tinyurl.com/ya3xhro). Merry Christmas!

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  9. MMMM, sounds divine. Never met a cranberry I didn't love. We grow a lot of them here in NS.
    Joey I have a question for you. Those photo collections that you do sometimes (like in the Acoustics of the Seasno post, etc) What are they called? What sort of software do you need to do them? I keep wanting to call them collages but that's not quite right. I know lots of people do them but I don't know whether they come through flickr or one of those other sites or use software or what, and I want to try to do them occasionally on my blog.

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  10. This looks so yummy, Joey. Love the photo of Santa and the cranberries. H.

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  11. Hi Joey! Blessed *is* the sweet season especially when cranberries are involved. I made cranberry bread today in fact. Merry almost Christmas.~~Dee

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  12. I confess, I'm a 'seasonal' cranberry addict also, Jodi, and go 'on the wagon' after New Years! (Won't see another cranberry post until Nov.) Actually, the photos are collages, easy to do in Picasa, a FREE software. I'm now pulling my hair out trying to incorporate 70GB from my Maxtor hard drive, not liking organization on iPhoto and wondering how to incorporate Photoshop for Apple (if Santa hears my Christmas wish). Any ideas? Plus my last 2 posted blogs are font weird! Thankfully, I have a one-to-one Mac class on Monday!

    Thanks Helen :) I wish you more than a few flakes ... a blanket of snow for a 'magical' Christmas. Happy Holidays!

    ... and a very Merry Christmas to you, dear Dee! I love Cranberry bread, and scones, and Cranberry French Toast, and Cranberry Salmon, and Cranberry Pork Tenderloin, and Cranberry Brie, and Cranberry Cobbler and Cranberry ...

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  13. great idea to use your extra cranberries. love their tartness.
    i hope you enjoying your season.
    happy december.

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  14. Merry Christmas, dear Marmee, and a Happy New Year!

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  15. Joey, You make cooking a beautiful experience! The linkwithin has another recipe that looks great~~Cranberry pear Pie with Oatmeal! Happy SUnday~ Thanks for your always supportive words when you visit~~xxgGail

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  16. Hello Joey...Thought I'd stop by and say thanks for 'knocking on my backdoor', and the Christmas wishes. It was so nice of you to think of me at this time of year. I haven't been doing much blogging still, except recently uploading images on my Damsels and Dragons blog.

    Martha Stewart has nothing on you, Joey...and after visiting your blog, I now know that Santa drinks Chardonnay...well, I suppose that's fine once in awhile!

    Merry Christmas and a warm holiday season to you and yours!

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  17. Thanks, dear Gail ... it's just 'cause I enjoy cooking a sharing a gift of love. Merry Christmas!

    Delighted to hear from you, Kim, and thank you for the lovely comment. Hope your Internet issues have been resolved and that your Christmas is merry & bright!

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