✓Pretty ✓Easy ✓Festive ✓Yum
This cake has it all. It’s a rustic hand-mixed cake and uses either a cake pan or a cast iron skillet instead of a cake pan. It’s easy to whip up and looks so pretty on your cake stand with its glistening caramelized cranberries.
Ingredients
For caramelized topping:
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 to 3 cups cranberries
For batter:
¾ cup mascarpone cheese make your own (you can substitute full-fat yogurt or buttermilk)
2 large eggs
½ cup melted brown butter, cooled to slightly warm
½ teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup - 1 cup sugar (Less sweet vs more sweet? You decide.)
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
Zest from 1 orange or lemon
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Start with the caramel: Melt your butter in a pan, add the light brown sugar, stir and cook on medium heat until all the sugar is melted and the mixture is bubbling all over. Remove from heat and quickly pour into a 9“ cake pan. Tilt the pan to coat the bottom evenly.
- Place the fruit directly on the caramel, use as many as you need to densely cover the bottom of the pan. Squeeze as much fruit as possible in as it will shrink during cooking. Set the pan aside and make the batter.
- Mix the batter: In a bowl, whisk together the mascarpone, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, sugar, salt, and cardamom. Add the baking powder, then the flour, and then the zest.
- Spread the batter over the fruit, careful not to dislodge the fruit pieces from their places. Smooth the batter out. Place the cake pan on a baking sheet and place it into the hot oven. Cook for approximately 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the center feels firm to the touch, and a tester comes out clean.
- When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and let is sit for precisely 2 minutes undisturbed.
- After the 2 minutes is up, run a butter knife along the edge of the pan to unstick the sides. (Do not wait longer than 2-4 minutes, max, as the caramel may begin to solidify.) Then un-mold your cake onto your cake plate. Tap the top of the pan as it’s flipped over to help dislodge fruit, then uncover the cake. If any fruit remains stuck on the pan, carefully remove it with a spatula and place it on the cake in its spot.
- Really good served with ice cream.