Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Mark and I pick a lot of cranberries (they're actually small low-bush cranberries called lingonberries) during the summer. I freeze them and use them throughout the winter for a nice treat. This is one our favorite recipes. The recipe is from the Everyday Food cookbook (Martha Stewart Co.), which is a great cookbook with lots of good pictures (I always like to see what the end product should look like). In the recipe it looks like they use the larger Ocean Spray type cranberries you can get in the supermarket.

Note: I usually have to cook my cake about 45 minutes (or until I jiggle the cake and the middle is set).

My Cake


Martha's Cake

Ingredients

Serves 8

8 T. butter, room temperature
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. allspice
1 3/4 c. cranberries
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; with rack in center. Rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons butter. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon and allspice. Sprinkle mixture evenly over bottom of pan; arrange cranberries in a single layer on top.

2. With an electric mixer, cream remaining 6 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well combined. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, until well combined.

3. Spoon batter over cranberries in pan, and smooth top. Place pan on a baking sheet; bake cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert onto a rimmed platter.