11.07.2011

Cranberry-Caramel Upside Down Cake and a Holiday Giveaway!


You'll find this such an easy cake to make for the holidays. And the color is amazing. The cake is light and the sweetness of the brown sugar offsets the tartness of the cranberries. The only suggestion I have is mentioned below in the bench note. The photo of the cake in the cookbook shows juice running down the sides. Very pretty. As you can see, mine didn't do that and it was because I took the cookbook's word for the pan size. Wrong.  But still, it tasted wonderful even if my oven was a mess!

Bench note
: The minute I added the batter to the cranberries, I suspected a normal cake pan would not be deep enough, so I put some foil under the pan to catch any overflow. Unfortunately, it still spilled over. My suggestion is to use a deeper than normal cake pan. That way, the juices will remain in the bottom and when you turn it out, they will run down the sides of the cake and not all over your oven.

Cranberry-Caramel Upside Down Cake

From The Perfect Finish by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark




Ingredients:
 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Method:
Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9" cake pan with butter and cover the bottom with parchment paper, cut to size.

In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, molasses, 4 tablespoons of the melted butter and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, stir and pour into the cake pan.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Beat the eggs and sour cream until well blended. Add the remaining butter and mix, scraping down the sides. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. 

Add the cranberries to the cake pan, making certain they are evenly distributed and cover the syrup with no gaps. Pour the batter over the cranberries, smooth out with a spatula and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 15, then run a thin knife around the edges and invert the pan onto a serving dish.



Now for the Holiday Giveaway!
I have a bunch of adorable Christmas aprons. Vintage. Such fun! And you can keep them for yourself or share them with friends and family for holiday or hostess gifts. Most are halves, but two are full. Here's a photo of the 10 half aprons (on the right) and the 2 fulls:



I'll pick four winners and each winner will get three aprons. They are in excellent condition, but the taffeta one has a slight pull, barely noticeable. They are vintage, after all. So leave me a comment and if you want a second chance to win,  become a follower.  I'll draw the names on November 20th. 
Be sure to leave an email address if it's not on your website! Sorry, U.S. only. :(

48 comments:

  1. I love upside down cakes! I have an Alice Waters recipe for cranberry upside down cake that I have always meant to make (I did it with plums once). Now I'll have to decided between this and AW's. Thanks for the tip on the pan.

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  2. That cake looks like it has my name on it. I am sorry for the oven mess...I do not like when that happens. Thanks for letting us know about the pan size.

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  3. I am *SO* making that cake ASAP!! I use a rather deep cake pan most of the time anyway.

    Those aprons are darling. What a perfect holiday offering!

    Love the new header too. I need to find my turkey candle sticks!!

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  4. That cake has interesting flavors. I had not thought of pairing them. A pretty cake too.

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  5. Barbara, I feel as if I've already won having this recipe. It looks like a jewel!! I think it would be lovely for Christmas and a welcome change. I always plan to have extra cranberries in the freezer.

    I adore aprons and would love to have any of these to see me through holiday food preparation. It's a lovely and generous giveaway.

    My e-mail is on my blog.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  6. That upside-down cake is fabulous! A real beauty and ever so tempting.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  7. Thanks for the bench note..It looks so good:)

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  8. Thanks---I've been looking for things to do with cranberries other than sauce. The combo of the caramel and the berries sounds perfect.

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  9. Hi Barbara,

    Oh yumm! thank you for sharing the recipe for this delicious looking Cranberry cake - it is making me feel hungry just looking at it.

    Have a happy week
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  10. wow plenty of cranberries!! The cake looks super duper delicious!

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  11. I've been on a molasses spree lately.
    For me it give just the right note to fall desserts.
    Mimi

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  12. That cake is just beautiful. Is it horrid to admit I want to win a slice of cake??? Guess I'll have to make this beauty myself.
    *kisses* HH

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  13. Dear Barbara, I think this cake is very pretty!! The cake would be very pretty for Christmas. It could be the center of the table!! Blessings my friend. Catherine xo

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  14. That looks delicious, even without the juice running down the sides. :) I love cranberry season. I can just imagine those tart cranberries atop that lovely cake- yum!

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  15. that is SUCH a pretty cake! and i love the aprons, so cute!

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  16. Love these types of cakes, and love cramberries especially~ I will make this soon. Real soon!

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  17. Barbara, the cake looks totally insane. Wish I could have a bite on it. ha... Just imagine how time flies huh! We're just 6 weeks away from X'mas and soon will be thanksgiving. (I'm not celebrating though) :o)
    Hope you're enjoying your week ahead, dear.
    Cheers, Kristy

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  18. I'm onhe look out for frozen cranberries hopefully I'll get the chance to bake the cakeeven if I can't enter the giveaway.
    :(

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  19. This reminds me of an upside-down cherry cake I made last year...and if it's anything like that cake then it must be amazing. Worth the mess it's absolutely going to making out of my oven. :P

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  20. That cake looks perfect for the holidays! Maybe a deeper springform pan would do the trick? And I love your apron collection!

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  21. This dish would be perfect for the holidays. And as for the aprons I just started a new job with a wonderful group of ladies. I have visions of us each wearing one and working in the kitchen together.

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  22. The cake looks yummy. Darn diet!! But I love, love, love the aprons. If I don't win, I might try making one!

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  23. Dear Barbara look amazing and delicious love it!! aah I love your giveaway but you know.....Im not in USA!! snif! gloria

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  24. Oh Barbara,

    These images bring back so many good memories of family traditions; the one and only time my mother would bring out the good silverware and put on an apron...oh what delicious memories! THANK YOU DEAREST for always coming for a visit, and yes, look up often. That is were our reality actually lies, I have been finding!!! Enjoy a wonderful Autumn evening, Anita

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  25. I LOVe Thanksgiving! :) I love anything to do with cranberries and turkey and cake....or pie. :)

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  26. Oh man I am so hooked on buttery upside down cakes. This is a must try.

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  27. Beautiful cake Barbara...so light and fluffy...like the idea of caramel and cranberries...sweet and tart...beautiful color as well.
    Hope you are having a nice week :-)

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  28. It looks wonderfully light and fluffy. I've been wanting to make a cranberry cake for a while now.

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  29. I love aprons and would really like to win some of these


    treva

    trevalynnf@hotmail.com

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  30. Your upside-down cake looks really great. Too bad about all that extra syrup. Hegui makes an apple upside-down cake in an iron skillet. He makes the caramel on the stove then bakes the whole thing. It is always super tasty, so I can only imagine how yours must have been. Perhaps I';ll try this one for my T-day dinner with friends this year.

    Love your aprons and I know just the right person for them should I win!!!

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  31. oh love this cake what fun and great giveaway :-) wow you have so many aprons :-) hugs back at you Barbara

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  32. i was planning to do a bananas foster upside down cake for dessert this week, but now i'm thinking this one might be better. and by 'might', i mean 'will definitely'... :)

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  33. I love vintage aprons and tablecloths.

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  34. A perfect ending for a festive Thanksgiving. That cake is almost jewel-like. ;)

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  35. This looks great! I love the combination of caramel and cranberries...yum!

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  36. Gorgeous Cake, Barbara. I was so excited I just had to tweet it for you!!!

    Thanks for sharing...

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  37. Oooh, you read my mind, Barbara. I was thinking about making a cake topped with some kind of cranberry sauce and here you are with this amazing recipe! It would be a show-stopper on a Thanksgiving dessert table.

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  38. messy or not, your cake looks simply wonderful for upcoming holiday events.
    I bet that touch of molasses adds surprising depth.

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  39. What a gorgeous cake! I'm sorry I can't qualify for your giveaway, but good luck to the others!

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  40. That is a beautiful cake, Barbara! Thank you so much for advising us on the cake pan too. I'd love to make this during the holidays.

    What a fun giveaway!

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  41. What a lovely creation.This would be perfect for a holiday meal. The tip regarding pan size is really appreciated. I hope you have a great evening. Blessings...Mary

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  42. That cranberry cake looks scrumptious, Barbara! I'm drooling now...Love the suggestion about the cake pan. Thanks for that :)

    Beautiful holiday giveaway, I'm unable to participate due to location but I'll tweet it for you!

    HUGS <3

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  43. I'm on a baked-fruit-and-caramel kick at the moment so I KNOW I would love this scrumptious cake. :-) Your aprons are darling!!

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  44. Barbara


    I just made this cake and it looks stunning! I used a 10 inch dish but even so it spilled a little. So beautiful!

    It is cooling now but we're going to try it tonight after dinner.. Can't wait.

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  45. I cam here to visit after following Val and Mary on the Game Changer series and I dawdled quite a while. Lovely blog. I'm an Ina fan, too, and the turkey roulade is what I have my eye on now for a small Christmas dinner. Sure glad I stopped. (And I'm a new follower, too.) The aprons would be dandy!

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  46. Adorable aprons and what a delicious looking cake! I have to try it...I love everything cranberry :)

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  47. Just today I thought a cranberry upside down cake would be a great idea. I sure would love the aprons. I'm so into vintage. Thanks for the chance.

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  48. Oh MY! The cake looks so moist, and it's so pretty! The cranberries look like jewels!

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