The Urban Homemaker: Cranberry Madness

Keeping in the spirit of the holiday season, I would like to dedicate the month of December to fruit and recipes that have some sort of fruit in them. For Thanksgiving as always, I make homemade cranberry sauce which left me with a bag of leftover cranberries. The solution? Cranberry Upside Down Cake. As soon as you taste this cake, you won't be able to stop taking bites!

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

1 1/2 stick (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 3/4 cups fresh cranberries
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In an 8-inch cast-iron skillet (***see note), cook 4 tablespoons butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts and starts to bubble. Remove pan from the heat and allow to cool.

In a small saucepan, cook the cranberries and orange juice until the cranberries just start to pop. Remove from the heat and pour evenly over the cooled caramel.

In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.

In a bowl or stand mixer beat the remaining 8 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the two egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in vanilla extract. When mixed well. add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with one third of the flour. Stir just until the flour is incorporated.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Fold one third of the egg whites into the batter and then gently fold in the rest.

Pour the batter over the cranberries in the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate.

***If you don't have n 8-inch cast iron skillet, you can melt the butter and brown sugar in a regular skillet and then pour it into an 8-inch cake pan and continue with the recipe from there.