Cranberry Cake with Warm Cream Sauce



I think my face is broken.

Do you ever get that?  Like you're fine, and you're fine, and you're fine, and then you're SOOOO TIIIIIIRED.

My eyes are sort of collapsin' like a stroke victim and I think a headache is gonna start pounding soon.

Pre-emptive Advil!  Or maybe five?

I'm all right.  It was just a long one.  I got stuck at the dentist's and I had to clean my kitchen.  And the baby cries.  How she cries.


So mundane.  Such is life.  The beauty is only ever in the details.  And that is why I love food.

The sunset was red-gold.  The polenta bread we ate with soup was soft.  The cranberry cake was exceptional.


Cranberry Cake with Warm Cream Sauce
adapted from Taste of Home

Anybody who knows me knows I have a weakness for old-timey foods.  This simple, single-layer cake is not too sweet, with a pleasant sauce that tastes rich but has less butter and sugar than frosting.  It's the kind of delicacy you could serve your friends for tea.  If you wanted to share it at all...

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh cranberries

For sauce:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease 9-inch baking pan, preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in milk.  Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and gradually add to milk mixture.  Beat in the cranberries.

Pour into greased baking pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

For sauce, melt butter in a saucepan.  Stir in sugar and cream.  Bring to a boil, stirring often.  Boil 8-10 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.

At this point you can simply pour it over each slice as you serve it, as the original recipe recommends.  However I did not have time for that so I used a chopstick to poke holes all over the cake and poured the sauce over the whole thing.  It soaked in and gave it a delicious, moist, tres leches-type feel.  Predictably, I recommend doing it my way.

3 comments:

Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself said...

Wow, this cake looks so crumby and fluffy, I could dive in headfirst :D
Awesome photos!

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

Amy (Savory Moments) said...

This cake looks really good! i also love old timey desserts - rustic and not overly sweet. This would be a great dessert for the holidays.

mjskit said...

Cranberry bread is my favorite of all quick breads and this cake just takes it one, two, three steps further. What a fabulous bread!