Celebrating life along the way is one of my favorite things to do. And what better way to celebrate than with a festive Cranberry Upside Down Cake.
I am a big fan of celebrations. Not the huge elaborate or expensive kind, but more the simple family style ones.
Growing up it was just my mom, dad, sister and I as far as family went. With all of our extended family living far far away overseas, we really depended on each other for support and encouragement. And one thing that my parents did so well back then and still do to this day, is celebrate hard work and accomplishments.
My favorite part of this tradition is that fact that our little family celebrations were not centered on buying stuff but instead they were about sending time together as a family, doing something fun, or gathering around a special cake my mom made.
I have so many fond memories of our family celebrating things like good grades, graduations, promotions or even become citizens. Each celebration focused on the 4 of us showing how proud we were of one another, acknowledging accomplishments without judgement or envy, and spending time together.
Those are some of my fondest childhood memories and I still feel a little bit of that when I make an upside down cake and eat it with my tiny family.
In honor of the holiday season, cranberries are the star in this homemade cake. Cranberry upside down cake has become my favorite cake over the last few years. The combination of tart cranberries with rich caramel sitting over a lightly sweetened orange kissed cake is absolute comfort for me.
A cake that is beautiful in its own rustic way and will proudly stand among gussied up holiday desserts. Simple, elegant and perfectly festive, this cake embodies all those little celebrations I shared with my family as a kid and all the ones I hope to celebrate and share with my family now.
If you are looking for a lovely festive way to show someone love this holiday season, a Cranberry Upside Down Cake and a little love will do the trick.
Yields 9 inch x 2 inch round cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) butter, room temp (plus more for buttering the pan)
- 1 cups white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt*
- 1/4 cup of milk
Instructions
- Butter a 9 inch cake pan, making sure to get the bottom and the sides.
- In a small saucepan over medium high heat, place the 4 tablespoons of butter and the 3/4 cups of packed brown sugar. Stir until the butter melts. Once the butter is melted, stop stirring and let the mixture simmer for 15-20 seconds. Then take off the heat.
- Immediately pour the caramel mixture into the prepared cake pan. Try to tilt the pan to evenly coat. Spread the cranberries on top of the caramel mixture and press down lightly so they are covering the entire bottom. Set aside while you make the cake!
- Preheat oven to 325°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
- With an electric mixer, beat the butter until light. Add in the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs and orange zest and mix until combined.
- Mix half of the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Then beat in half the yogurt followed by half the milk. Mix in the second half of the dry ingredients. Then the remaining yogurt. Beat and then add last half of milk. Beat just until mixed. Pour batter over the cranberries in the cake pan, and smooth out the surface.
- Place cake pan over a cookie sheet to make sure it doesn’t spill over. Put in the oven and bake until a toothpick tester comes out clean, 55 minutes to an hour.
- Cool cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes and then run a dull knife inside rim of the cake pan to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Carefully turn the cake out onto a platter. Ta-da!!!!
Notes
Make sure you use a 9 inch by 2 inch high cake pan. If you do not have one that is that tall, remove about a cup of the batter and maybe make 2 little muffins with the extra batter (without the caramel topping). You can use sour cream instead of Greek yogurt but personally I like making the recipe a little healthier. I would recommend using a Greek plain yogurt for this recipe instead of regular yogurt because it is a bit too runny. Cake will save on the counter for 2-3 days. Otherwise I like freezing half of it wrapped in foil and in a freezer bag. Thaw for a few hours or overnight to eat.
Slightly adapted from Simply Recipes’ Cranberry Upside Down Cake.
Originally posted 2016-12-05 07:00:00.
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