Cranberry upside-down cake - country living

8 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
4 cups Fresh or frozen cranberries
2¼ cup Sugar
¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
¼ cup Red currant jelly
¼ cup Orange juice
2 tablespoons Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Grated fresh gingerroot
1 teaspoon Grated orange rind
2 cups Cake flour
½ teaspoon Baking powder
½ teaspoon Baking soda
½ teaspoon Salt
3 Large eggs
1 teaspoon Almond extract
1 cup Buttermilk
Fresh mint sprigs (opt.)
Fresh cranberries (opt.)

Directions

1. Grease a 9-inch springforrn pan; line bottom with waxed paper; grease paper. In 2-quart saucepan, combine 1 C cranberries, 1 C sugar, ¼ C (½ stick) butter, the red currant jelly, orange juice, cornstarch, gingerroot, and orange rind. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens-about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; drain off and reserve ⅓ C syrup from mixture; set aside. Stir remaining cranberries and ¼ C sugar into mixture in saucepan; set aside to cool while preparing cake batter.

2. Heat oven to 325F. In medium-size bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat remaining 1 C sugar and ½ C (1 stick) butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in almond extract.

4. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating until a smooth batter forms. Spread cranberry mixture in an even layer in bottom of prepared pan; spoon batter evenly over cranberry mixture. Place cake pan on rimmed cookie sheet to catch any drippings. Bake 60 to 65 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 45 minutes.

5. To serve, invert cake onto serving plate; remove pan and waxed paper. Drizzle reserved syrup on top of cake. Cut into 8 wedges; garnish each serving with mint and cranberries, if desired.

Country Living/November/91 Scanned & fixed by DP and GG

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