CRANBERRY CAKE

I keep seeing all these cute little strawberry desserts on Pinterest. Strawberry cupcakes! Strawberry Santa hats! Tuxedo strawberries! But strawberries in winter kind of taste like red water. Not good. But I understand the appeal of a red fruit dessert. There's something so inviting about naturally red food, isn't there?

May I introduce to you: the cranberry.

Did you just make a face? I understand. Have you only had cranberries at Thanksgiving, in a jellied, cylinder form? Poor you. Let me introduce you to homemade cranberry sauce made into cake. It is both tart and sweet, with a crunch of pecans and a buttery cakey top. It's seasonal! It's American! Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy and patriotic just thinking about it?

First, we start with a homemade cranberry sauce.

Butter up a pan, pour in that sauce and add some chopped pecans.

Make a batter. Pour it over those red berries.

Bake it up.

Enjoy a slice.

Cranberries. Show this red fruit some love.


Cranberry Cake
adapted from the Pioneer Woman

butter, for greasing
2 cups cranberry sauce (recipe follows)
3/4 cups pecans, chopped
1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 salt
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350.
Grease a 8 inch cake pan with butter. Add cranberry sauce. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
In a mixing bowl, combined flour, 1 cup of sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Stir to combine.
Pour batter over the cranberries evenly, spread gently if necessary.
Bake for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar and bake another 5 minutes.
Cut into wedges and serve.

Sauce:
2 cups fresh cranberries (1 bag will do)
3/4 cups water
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
zest of 2 clementine oranges
1 cup of sugar (more if you like it extra sweet, less if you like things tart)

Combine the cranberries, water, spices and zest in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat. Cook until cranberries begin to burst, about 10 minutes.
Add the sugar and reduce heat to low. Cook until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Refrigerate over night.


Enjoy!