Berry Best Cake Ever!

This is the CranBERRY BEST cake ever! It is Decembers cake that the Cake Slice Bakers were baking from by Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. It is the best so far... My neighbor was having her girlfriends over, so after I sampled the first piece of the cake, I passed it along to her to serve for dessert. They all seemed to really enjoy it and are requesting the recipe... It is a TRUE keeper!

I  really can't wait to bake it again! Next time I'm going to add my own flair and add some orange zest to the batter. I love the flavor combination of cranberry and orange. I am going to bake it bake for Christmas Eve.. what a great Holiday cake! The red of the cranberries make it look so festive, and Holiday worthy. The topping is a crunchy, sweet mixture of almonds and brown sugar and of course butter! It pairs so nice with the tartness of the cranberries. This cake was so moist and tender. Serve it with some vanilla ice cream or homemade whip cream.

A few things to note... The recipe calls for sliced almonds. I wanted the texture of the topping to be a bit crunchy, so I used half slivered and half sliced almonds. It also made it look beautiful on top to have the different types of almonds. Also, mine baked for a hour and 20 minutes.. the recipe says an hour to an hour and ten minutes. The batter will be very thick.. keep an eye on it while baking and do not over bake! One last thing... to get your cakes moist, you can't over beat them! So slowly add the flour 1/2 cup at a time and fold it in gently!

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

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Cranberry Cake

(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

For the Streusel
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp light brown sugar

For the Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries

Method – Streusel
Heat the oven to 300F. Grease a 10inch round springform pan.
Combine the butter, almonds and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Work the mixture between your fingers to form large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Method – Cake
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until the mixture is lightened and increased in volume, about 5 minutes.
With the mixer on low speed, add the butter in a slow stream. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for another 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.
Gently but thoroughly fold in the flour mixture, half a cup at a time. Then stir in the cranberries.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.

my little helper during my baking.. into TROUBLE!

Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1hour 10minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom onto the wire rack. Cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

want a bite???