cranberry-orange upside down cake

things have been slowly getting back to normal.
littlefoodie broken-leg has figured out how to army crawl once more. its like having a 6 month old all over again...only, a 6 month old who can verbally attack you at any point of the day.
example: "mommy, get off the phone now." "mommy, play on the floor with me now." i love that he talks....A LOT but a mom needs a break sometimes.
apparently a broken leg means a kiss my booty attitude from littlefoodie.
its okay, for now at least. (who am i kidding, he pretty much holds the reigns daily.. even with limbs and bones intact.)

its been a week without cooking so i jumped back into the kitchen with a holiday favorite of mine.
this cake is not too sweet but with the nice tart flavor of fresh cranberries, orange zest, almond and spicy ginger. its great for brunch or dessert or in the middle of the night...whenever!
littlefoodie and family gave it 2 thumbs and one broken tibia up!

enjoy!

cranberry-orange upside down cake

1 1/2 tbl unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup dark brown natural brown sugar
1 bag fresh cranberries or 2 1/2 cups, sorted and washed
1/2 tbl minced crystallized ginger
1 tbl fresh minced orange zest
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup natural cane sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbl real almond extract
1/2 tbl fresh orange juice
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch of nutmeg and cloves
3/4 cup milk

preheat oven to 350F.
coat bottom of a 9 in springform pan with melted butter.
combine brown sugar, cranberries, crystallized ginger and orange zest. pour into bottom of pan.

cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add eggs 1 at a time. add almond ex. and orange juice.

combine flours, baking powder, and spices.

add alternately to the butter mixture with milk. start and finish with the flour.

pour over cranberries in pan. bake for 35-40 mins.

cool for about 10 minutes and then carefully invert it onto cake platter.


stay tuned:
this week its african stew, fig rosemary bread and who knows what with persimmons!!!!!!