Cake #23 - Cranberry Cake

In trying to decide what cake to make next, I go back to my cookbooks (many from the library) and look for something inspiring.  Then I keep that in mind as I go about my week, looking forward to what I'm going to bake on the weekend.  

If, however, I don't have something in mind that I'm waiting to try, it helps to have an inspiring ingredient.  A couple of weeks ago I picked up a bag of cranberries at the store, dropped them in the crisper drawer and then forgot about them.  As I was planning for this week's cake, I realized that a cranberry cake would be perfect.  Rather than search my cookbooks, I went right to the internet and settled on this straight-forward cranberry cake (no bells, whistles, citrus, almond paste, or other nutty additions).  The blog entry is funny, and the cake delicious.  So good, in fact, that I quickly distributed cake to my mom, my cranberry loving dear friend, and my co-workers.  (Otherwise, I would have happily eaten cranberry cake all week.  Cranberries, after all, are packed with antioxidants!)  It has a thin, sweet crust and is studded with bright berries throughout.  It would be delicious with coffee or tea, or for a bite of dessert after lunch.

I didn't use the kirsch (didn't have any on hand) and I used a 9" spring form pan (rather than a 10").  I didn't have any trouble with the top browning too quickly and I baked it for about an hour (maybe a minute or two longer.)  I rinsed the berries, pulled out the few soft ones, then dried them a bit and dusted them with flour to keep them from either floating or sinking during baking.  I assume that the eggs should be room temperature, as well as the milk - although there's so little in this recipe the milk temperature probably doesn't matter much.

This cake would be good for a beginner in that it has the right proportions of how to mix a cake - lots of time for eggs and sugar, and the most minimal mixing once the flour is added.  It's a good lesson that way.  I would even say that you can stir in the flour just until the batter is becoming consistent, leaving a tiny bit of loose flour as you move the thick batter into the pan, to avoid overmixing.  

I much prefer the look of a cake made in a spring form pan, to that baked in a 9x13 pan.  To me a 9x13 rectangle is not a cake, it's a casserole - I just don't associate that size and shape with cake.  So the choice to do a spring form cake was obvious.

I did buy two more bags of fresh cranberries at the store tonight - there were other promising looking cranberry cake recipes, so stay tuned if you love cranberries!

Cranberry Cake
makes 1 9x13 or 1 10" spring form cake

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon kirsch (optional)
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of milk
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups cranberries (1 bag)

1.       Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan or a 10" spring form pan.

2.       Beat eggs and sugar together for 5-7 minutes; the eggs will increase in volume quite a bit, streaming into ribbons when you lift the beaters. They will also turn pale yellow.

3.       Add butter and extracts and beat for 2 minutes. Add the milk and salt and mix for another 30 seconds.

4.       Stir in flour and fold in cranberries. Pour into greased pan.

5.       Bake 45-50 minutes for a 9x13, or a little over an hour for the spring form. You may need to tent the cake with foil in the last 15 minutes or so to keep the top from browning. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

http://www.vanillagarlic.com/2009/10/expletive-cranberries-expletive.html