Here is one more delicious dish you might want to add to your table during his holiday season: Alice Waters’ Cranberry Upside-Down Cake.” The cake, with whipped egg whites folded in, is light. The cranberries, baked with a sweet caramel glaze, are sweet and tart at the same time.
And, it is oh so pretty!
Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
November 27, 2019
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 T.) unsalted butter (room temperature and divided into 4 T. and 8T. portions)
- 3/4 C. light brown sugar (well packed)
- 2 3/4 C. fresh cranberries
- 1/4 C. fresh orange juice
- 1 1/2 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1/4 t. table salt
- 1 C. granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs (room temperature, separated)
- 1/2 C. whole milk ( room temperature)
- 1/4 t. cream of tartar
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare an 8-inch round cake pan by buttering it.
- Step 2 Put 4 T. butter and the brown sugar into the pan and put the pan in the preheated oven. Watch the pan and, as the butter and brown sugar dissolve, stir the mixture to distribute it in the pan. Once the mixture is dissolved and it begins to darken and bubble, remove it from your oven and let it cool.
- Step 3 Prepare your cranberries by putting them and the orange juice into a small sauce pan. Cook the mixture just until the cranberries begin to pop. Remove from heat and pour the mixture over the cooled caramel (brown sugar and butter) in your cake pan. Set aside.
- Step 4 Prepare your cake. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- Step 5 Using your mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the remaining 8 T. of butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest. Begin at medium speed to mix and then turn the mixer to high speed to mix until the butter mixture is pale, light and fluffy. This should take less than 5 minutes. Add the vanilla to the creamed mixture. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Scrape the bowl a couple of times as you mix to be sure all the ingredients are incorporated. Add in the milk and flour, adding the flour mixture in alternating thirds with the milk. Be sure to mix this just until the flour is incorporated.
- Step 6 In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites with the cream of tartar until the egg whites form soft peaks. Fold one third of the egg whites into the battler and then gently fold in the rest.
- Step 7 Pour the batter over the cranberries/caramel in your cake pan. Smooth the batter with a spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes . When your cake is done, the top will be golden and the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Test your cake for doneness by inserting a skewer into the center of the cake. It should come out clean if the cake is done.
- Step 8 Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate. If the cake is reluctant to come out of the pan (mine was), tap the pan on your counter to dislodge it and run a knife around the edge of the pan again.
- Step 9 Serve as is or with whipped cream.
This recipe is adapted from one that appears here.
