Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

This recipe originally came from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine (Dec. 2003). I finally made it to take to the neighbors' house for a post-holiday dinner. Everyone raved about it, so I made another cake to take to our kinship group. Again, it made a great impression. And, yet, it is pretty easy to make.

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:
2 T. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon (I use Penzey's ground Korintje Indonesian cinnamon)
1/4 t. allspice
1 3/4 c. cranberries; either fresh, or thawed frozen

Cake batter:
6 T. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. heavy cream

1) Heat oven to 350˚.
2) In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar with 1 t. cinnamon and 1/4 t. allspice.
3) Butter an 8" or 9" round cake pan with 2 T. butter, and be generous.
4) Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture onto bottom of pan in an even layer.
5) On top of the cinnamon sugar layer, make an even layer of cranberries.

6) In mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
7) Add egg & vanilla; beat well.

8) In another bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
9) With mixer on low speed, beat in dry ingredients, alternating with heavy cream.
10) Carefully spoon batter over cranberries, and smooth out top. (This batter will be very thick and frosting-like!)


11) Bake at 350˚ for 30 to 35 minutes, until top is browned very lightly.
12) ALLOW TO COOL 20 minutes on wire rack before attempting to unmold cake! Then, run a knife along the edge to make sure it is loosened, and invert onto serving platter. Serve immediately with whipped cream.