This is a great recipe Not terribly simple, but well worth the effort!
Martha Stewart's Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
This is so pretty and so good--it's not terribly sweet, and the cornmeal and almond paste/extracts make it different and special.
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter, softened or 14 tablespoons if not using the almond paste--see below
- 2 3/4 cups cranberries or one 12-oz. bag, rinsed and shriveled ones removed
- 9 tablespoons maple syrup or 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 6 tablespoons cornmeal or 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons--The recipe recommends coarsely-ground; I usually buy Bob’s Red Mill or Arrowhead Mills brands, not the Quaker de-germed stuff.
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup almond paste An expensive ingredient, I know, but this cake is really special. If you feel that you just can’t splurge on this, I’d suggest that you add 2 tablespoons extra butter. Or make your own almond paste—see Note below.
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
-
1. Spray Pam on or butter a round cake pan, then flour it. (I used a 9-inch springform pan, which made unmolding the cake much easier than if I'd used a regular cake pan. The original recipe says to use an 8” pan, but at least one comment on this recipe said that that size pan was too small. So if you don’t use a springform pan you probably should use a 9” cake pan.) In a large skillet, heat 6 tablespoons butter until melted, add cranberries and cook 2-3 minutes, until beginning to soften.
2. Add the maple syrup and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes more, until cranberries are completely softened but still hold their shape. (Don't worry if they cook a little long--they just won't look as pretty.) Remove the cranberries with a slotted spoon and spread them in the cake pan. Boil the syrup remaining in the skillet until it boils and thickens, 3-4 minutes. Don't let it cook too long. Pour the syrup over the cranberries and let cool while you make the cake batter.
3. Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 350. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cornmeal. Beat together the remaining butter (6 tablespoons if using the almond paste, 8 tablespoons or one stick if not) and the almond paste, crumbled, if using, and the 3/4 cup sugar until creamy looking. (You're supposed to use an electric mixer, but mine was packed, so I just had to use a spoon and beat it by hand.) Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until well combined. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk in two batches.
4. In another bowl beat the egg whites until foamy; slowly add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar; beat until soft peaks form. Whisk a third of the whites into the batter, then fold in remaining whites.
5. Spread the batter over the cranberries in the cake pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan (original recipe says 2 hours) before inverting it onto a serving plate. Cake is best eaten within 2 days.
Recipe Notes
Note: You can make your own almond paste, especially if you have some almond flour hanging around and need to use it up. Use 1 ½ cups almond flour, 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, one egg white, and 1 1/ tsp. almond extract. Process in a food processor until it’s smooth. If you just have almonds, process 1 ½ cups of those with the powdered sugar until finely ground—don’t process the almonds by themselves or you’ll end up with almond butter—and then add the other ingredients. You can divide up the paste into 1/2-cup or 1/4-cup portions and put them in ziploc bags, then freeze.