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Nov
16
Cranberry-Pecan Upside Down Cake
November 16, 2007 |
For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. ~ Edwin Way Teale
This cake is a tribute to two of the most striking flavours of the autumn harvest - cranberries and pecans. Both are indigenous to North America and add a special touch to every Thanksgiving menu.
Cranberries are one of three major native North American fruits. The other two are blueberries and Concord grapes.
Cranberries: America’s Native Fruit
“It has been an unchallengeable American doctrine that cranberry sauce, a pink goo with overtones of sugared tomatoes, is a delectable necessity of the Thanksgiving board and that turkey is uneatable without it.” - Alistair Cooke
We happen to love the “pink goo”, not on turkey, but on toast or a cake.
As for pecans, they derive their name from a Native American word of Algonquin origin that describes “all nuts requiring a stone to crack.”
We usually make an orange-cranberry cake adapted from Alton Brown’s Aunt Verna’s Orange Cake. Ours is a fatfree version with egg whites instead of whole eggs, and dried cranberries soaked in orange juice, along with some almond extract.
It’s a light, delicious cake. This time, we added a tart and crunchy topping with loads of fresh cranberries and pecans. With a cup of coffee it makes a great, guilt-free holiday breakfast. The only fat in this festive treat (in addition to the pecans), comes from the 2 tablespoons of butter in the topping. Many mouthfuls of bliss.
We originally planned to make it just with the caramelised sugar, cranberry and pecan topping, as in pineapple upside down cake. However, the glace adds a lot of moisture and a further boost of cranberry flavour to the cake.
Our glace and topping are tart rather than sweet. Increase the amount of sweetener if you wish.
CRANBERRY-PECAN UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
For the topping:
One 12-oz. packet of fresh or frozen cranberries (around 3 cups)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
**we used raw cane sugar plus 1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses to make 1/2 cup.
2 tablespoons butter
For the cake:
3/4 cup orange blossom honey (or more to suit taste)
**if using plain honey, increase the orange zest by 1 tsp.
1 cup egg whites
**for a moister cake, use 1 cup whole eggs
1.5 tablespoons orange zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (or cognac)
1/4 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
1 tsp oil for greasing cake pan
For the glace:
1 cup cranberries
1 cup peeled, deseeded and chopped oranges
2 tbsps orange juice
1/3 cup orange blossom honey
2 tsps orange zest
1 tbsp Grand Marnier
a pinch salt
** Or 1 cup Cranberry-Orange Jam, heated in the microwave
To garnish
Toasted pecan halves
1. Grease a round cake pan with oil. Put a round of parchment round at the base. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cake pan on a baking sheet.
2. Melt the butter in the microwave, put it in the base of the pan, then sprinke the sugar, and the cranberries and pecans for the topping in a layer. Keep it aside.
3. Beat the eggs unil thick and light, then add the honey, Grand Marnier and almond extract (if using) and whisk until well integrated. Stir in orange zest.
4. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix gently into egg mixture.
5. Mix in the chopped pecans and evenly spread to cover the cranberry-pecan mixture in the cake pan.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Check the middle of the cake with a toothpick to see if it is done. The cake should start pulling back from the sides of the pan and the toothpick should come out clean. The cake may be a little jiggly from the cranberry mixture at the bottom. That’s fine.
7. When the cake is baking, cook the ingredients for the glace together until the berries break down and the mixture is thick and almost spreadable like jam.
8. After the cake has cooled for about 15 minutes, loosen the sides and invert it onto a plate. Peel off the parchment and spread the hot glace on top. Let it soak for 10 minutes.
9. Garnish with pecan halves.
cramberry-pecan-upside-down-cake, Cranberry, Orange, Pecan, vegetarian recipes
wowwwwwww lookssss beautifullll and i know it tastess yummyyyyy
Delicious Cake.I have never tried cakes from scratch at home. BTW I love that cartoon….. :laugh:
Another one of your beautiful creations. Looks rich and gorgeous. I’ve got a few doubts. Where can I find orange blossom honey and what is Grand Marnier? Is there any substitutions for these?
you can find it in any natural foods store. if not, use regular honey with 1-2 tsps extra orange zest. grand marnier is orange liqueur. it is optional. you can add orange juice concentrate instead, or leave it out. - b.
Already started or ended your Thanksgiving with Cranberries!!
Looks delicious! Perfect Thanksgiving dessert. I am going to skip Pumpkin and keep it simple this year.
Talking about Orange, I just baked a Orangy one, will post on Monday, got to type in.
Great entry. Have a great weekend. See you BOTH on Monday! :love:
Lovely looking cake….and the “Happy Everything” is just too good… :rofl:
what a lovely cake Bee………Great colors….great post as usual :-))
Please don’t mind If I don’t comment the next few months as I would terribly busy with my academic work……Hope u understand dear….I will be back in no time
I am going to make this cake soon. I have only used cranberry for making relishes,
:)
It looks so good and the colour wow.
I am going to surprise my family bu making this cake in december. If it turns out so good as your cake i am sure i will get the wow effect from the whole family.
Food blogs test your vocab - I’m running out of words to describe how gorgeous everything looks. Where did you get that Happy Everything - your own?
someone mailed it to us. - b.
That Happy Everything is great :laugh:
And your cake is in loss of other words “mind blowing”
Dear Jai, Happy Everything to you, too!
The cake you baked is incredibly pleasing to the eyes. I am sure it will be a feast for the soul, too.
i baked this cake and the first pic is mine, but since i am so unassuming and generous, i’ll let you praise him.
- b.
i donno how u manage to make every single thing in here so healthy! there is no butter in this cake?
looks delicious and very bright!
I luv luv luv the Happy Everything image! It so symbolizes the overdose of holiday merchandise, sales and overeating this season! :yes:
:angel: The picture looks absolutely stunning! Frankly all I am doing is scrolling at looking at the cake. It looks so surreal and I think it has my name written all over it.
lovely cake!!! love these upside down cakes…very delicious…pic is really sooo cute…
That’s a beautiful cake.
Lovely cake, buddies :). The first picture is such a beauty. Hey, about cranberries: have you ever made a desi style ht pickle with them, do try it, its lip-smacking good!
i can imagine. i love cranberries in any form. - b.
I looked at the cake and thought Man! that is a beautiful cake and would so wish to have Bee as my neighbor! Then I scroll down and see the Happy Everything! look fantastic and very apt!
Hi BEE,
Delicious cake.
I have some berries in my pantry.
Pecan nut treats are looking great
thanks for sharing.
vineela
that happy everything….
…so apt
can i use it pleeeze? :hmm:
cake is gorgeous!!
sure. it’s not ours. feel free to use it.
Simply beautiful….
What a color cake Bee, So yummy. The picture is awsome. :yes:
This cake looks so festive! I love the colours and I can just imagine the flavour from the tart cranberries and the crunchy pecans. Make me a cup of tea, I’m coming over
Nice take on the flipped-over cake. Pretty funny ‘toon. Three ghosts coming soon to a home near you.
What a gorgeous colour…and the toon, :rofl:
drool…. that is a beauty! And I love the pink goo on spicy sandwiches..
:yes: :yes: the first pic just made me go crazy :secret:
Advanced Thanksgiving wishes to J&B :love:
That must be tasting amazing. I too love fruit topping on cake as compared to cream. Enjoy!
Haa haa haa! ODed on festive postings, huh?
I love the idea of using orange blossom honey - delicious.
Oh I love that festive little creature. Isn’t he a sweetheart. LOL.
The cranberry cake lookes great. Looks like the one I made last year from Dorie Greenspan’s book! Beautiful!
No words to describe it ….you rock as usual ….Excellent pic……
Lovely cake!
Great looking cake and am sure it was equally scrumptious - the colours are so rich and yummy!
Raji
Holy yumness!! The ‘Happy Everything’ thinger is so funny - I say this as I’m shopping madly, bulldozing over people loitering haplessly in the aisles. :rolleyes:
I wish I could grab a slice just now… we get neither cranberries nor pecans here
That cake is worth dying for!!! I am such a huge fan of pecans and cranberries! that’s what I eat with my cereals everyday!:)
I would so love to try this one day - it looks so wonderfully juicy! Unfortunately, there are no fresh cranberries in Australia, I haven’t even been able to find frozen ones…
Hi,
Love your blog
The cake looks stunning ! Any way to make this eggless ??
replace eggs in volume with an equal part of silken tofu.
Hey Bee and Jai! I couldn’t resist making this cake myself. I just put a post about it on my blog.. thank you so much for the recipe!
wow, Bee and Jai!!! That’s an amazing looking cake! Love the photos, I can almost snatch it off the computer screen (I wish I could!). I just saw the link to this post from Marta at Italian in the US. I wish I can find fresh cranberries here. I can’t even find frozen ones.
Nora