This month’s recipe is bound to be a hit with those of you that like fruity desserts. This was my first time making it, but it won’t be my last – yum! It’s tasty all on its own, but is also excellent served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I found this recipe on page 205 of the Barefoot Contessa’s How Easy Is That? cookbook, but made a few changes. She calls it Easy Cranberry Apple Cake, but I included more apples than cranberries so I changed the name a bit for this post. Apparently her recipe is based on a recipe from Sarah Chase’s book Cold Weather Cooking. So, you’ve got options if you want some variations on the recipe. Here’s what I made…
Apple-Cranberry Cake Recipe
*
Ingredients:
6 ounces fresh cranberries*, rinsed and picked over for stems
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored, and diced
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (2 oranges)
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1⁄8 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the cranberries, apples, brown sugar, orange zest, orange
juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer on medium, add 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla, and sour cream and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly
add the flour and salt.
Pour the fruit mixture evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour the
batter over the fruit, covering it completely. Combine the remaining
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1⁄8 teaspoon of cinnamon and
sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick
inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.
*Note: I couldn’t find any fresh or frozen cranberries at the grocery store, so I used a 14 oz. can of whole berry cranberry sauce instead. I put all the cranberry sauce into a colander, and washed away all the “sauce” until just the berries remained – this left me with approximately 6 oz. of berries.
Though this recipe is a cake, it’s baked in a pie pan, and I’d like to thank my friend, Beth, for loaning me her 10″ glass pie pan. Thank you, my friend! :) Here are some cake recipes from past months, if you’re interested: Triple Chocolate Cake, Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, and Ida’s Coffee Cake! Please let me know if you have any questions, dear readers. Happy Baking!
Warm regards,
Melody
