Cranberry Upside Down Cake

This recipe was accidentally removed from the blog, but due to popular demand, and with fresh cranberries appearing in the shops, we felt we should re post it. Laura’s on Cowbridge Road have been stocking fresh cranberries on a regular basis in recent weeks.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake. Serve with Christmas pudding ice cream

• 150g of butter, unsalted
• 100g brown sugar
• 225g fresh cranberries 
• 50ml fresh orange juice
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 100ml whole milk, at room temperature
• 170g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼  tsp salt
• 100g granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• You will need  20cm cake tin, too.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2.  Put 50g of butter and the brown sugar into a frying pan or saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted and bubbly andyou have a caramel.  Pour into a cake tin and spread evenly.

3.  Cook together the cranberries and orange juice on medium heat until the cranberries begin to pop.  Remove from heat and pour evenly over the cooled caramel.

4.  Separate the egg yolks from the whites.  Set aside.  Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

5.  In a large mixing bowl beat  100g of softened butter to lighten.  Add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.  Stir in vanilla extract.  Mix well.

6.  Add flour and milk, alternating and adding only ⅓  of each at a time starting and ending with the flour (like this, ⅓ of the flour, ½  the milk, ⅓  flour, ½  milk, ⅓  flour).  Stir until combined, but don’t overmix.

7.  In another bowl beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.  Fold in ⅓ of the egg whites into the batter then gently fold in the rest until all egg white is incorporated.  Pour the batter into the pan on top of the cranberries and caramel.  Smooth the top with a spatula.

8.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown (really golden, not light golden) and the cake pulls away from the edge of the pan.  If you still are not sure then make sure that a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edges to loosen then place a plate right side down on top of the pan and flip the pan over to release the cake onto the plate.