Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Almond-Cranberry Cake

We were invited out to dinner this past Saturday night and I volunteered to bring a dessert. I wanted to make something appropriate for the season so thought to go with good ol' Apple Pie. Whoops. Not enough time to defrost a couple of pie crusts from the freezer and no time to make them from scratch.

Okay, cranberries. I make a wicked good Raspberry-Cranberry Pie. Rats. Pie crusts required again.

Got it! Almond-Cranberry Cake. A confessed poor cake baker I am but there are a few cake recipes I can wangle and feel good about. This is one of the few.

ALMOND-CRANBERRY CAKE

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 - 16 oz. can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/4 to 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Glaze: Put 1 cup powdered sugar in a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon almond extract and enough milk (about 1 tablespoon) to make a frosting that can be drizzled over cake.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, beating well. Stir in almond extract.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream.

Spread half of the batter in a greased 10" tube pan. Top with half of the cranberry sauce.

(Before I spread the cranberry sauce, I put it in a small bowl and mix it up with a spoon to break up the jellied chunks. It's easier to spread on the cake batter this way.)

Repeat layers and sprinkle with almonds.

Bake in a 350° oven for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Mix up the glaze and drizzle over cake. I like to add a few more sliced almonds scattered randomly over the white drizzled frosting.

Sorry I don't have a picture of a slice of the cake to show you. I thought it might be a tad tacky Saturday night to whip out my camera and shout, "Photo op! Photo op!" when it was sliced and served. You'll just have to trust me that with the layer of cranberries running through the center of the slice it looks good enough to pass muster.

Enjoy!

17 comments:

The Apple Pie Gal said...

No, you can't go to gatherings packin' your camera...bummer!

Hey, are we opting for the "Cake Diet" as opposed to PIE???

Didn't think you'd get that past us did you???

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

What a great use of the left over cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving. You should call this the black friday cake. Gives you energy for shopping.

Mama Pea said...

APG - Now I would DEFINITELY lose weight on a Cake Diet. There are very few cakes that are even worth eating in my book! (Does this make me a cake snob??)

Jane - That thought crossed my mind when I was writing out the recipe. (Great minds . . . ?)

You wouldn't catch me out shopping on Black Friday for A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G! (I hate crowds!)

Erin said...

This looks like a cookbook photo, beautiful! I'm not a huge pie eater (only apple), so I think you made the right choice! We are having Thanksgiving dinner at my BFF's house here and her parents are coming in to town and I was wracking my brain trying to think of something besides apple or pumpkin pie.... YAY! I'm sure mine won't be as pretty, but I'll do my best! I bet the house smelled wonderful while you were baking this!

Erin said...

did someone say "cake diet"? Oh, count me in... I'll start with a pound cake drenched in booze! How much weight will I lose with that one LOL?

Mama Pea said...

Erin - Thanks for the compliment, my little friend. And with your OCD tendencies, I have NO doubt your cake will be cookbook picture perfect!

Re the cake diet, you eat the pound cake. I'll juss drink the boos, thank you very mush. Hic.

Susan said...

If I lived at your house I would weigh 400 lbs. But I would be sooo happy! That is an amazing cake and I am going to bake one. I am more of a pie baker and I am not fond of layer cakes. But THIS I would be fond of. And one of Erin's boos-soaked pound cakes...

Jennifer Jo said...

I was just researching cranberry cake and found something very similar. It caught my fancy and warranted a bookmark. And now this... Yum.

Kelly said...

That looks yummy!

Mama Pea said...

Susan - You would not! Because we would make you work so hard for your room and board that you could eat whatever you wanted!

JJ - Wishing you best of luck in your cranberry adventures! 'Tis the season . . .

Kelly - Thank you, ma'am!

Jenyfer Matthews said...

You are officially invited over for dinner whenever it is convenient for you ;)

Lorie said...

What a beautiful cake. I am sure it is a crowd pleaser. It looks so yummy.

Mama Pea said...

Jen - Okay, but this is going to involve some planning! ;o)

Lorie - Thank you so much for your kind words. Our Saturday night hostess stopped by this morning with the cake plate . . . quite empty, so I guess the last of the cake was taken care of in one way or the other!

Leigh said...

Yum! I make a lot of bundt type cakes because Dan likes cake and I don't have to frost these. I really like your filling idea and we love cranberry. Another must try recipe from Mama Pea.

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - I see no reason why this cake couldn't be made in a bundt pan. It's heavy and moist enough that your hubby could eat slices out of hand . . . wouldn't require a plate and fork. Hope he likes it!!

thimblevee said...

Hi Mama Pea,
I'm a little late commenting, but had to throw in my 2 cents worth. I have a "similar" sheet cake recipe for cranberry cake that is made with fresh or frozen cranberries. Matter of fact, I made one last night. Those wonderful tart fresh berries in the sweet almond flavored cake batter........mmmmm good. I'll bet fresh or frozen berries would work in your cake batter also, just fold the whole berries in at the end and then add to the pan. My recipe has chopped pecans in it also, instead of almonds. I love this recipe so much I buy up fresh cranberries during the holidays and freeze them just so I can make it all year!

Mama Pea said...

Thimblevee - Your cake recipe sounds wonderful! And you're right, I probably should use a homemade cranberry sauce in my recipe. It would be all the yummier, I'll bet. Thanks for the tip.