Easy Cranberry & Apple Cake (Ina Garten) Recipe

By Foodiewife

This recipe comes from "The Barefoot Contessa". Ina Garten says that this recipe is inspired by a cranberry pie from Sarah Chase's book Cold Weather Cooking. Her friend Barbara Liberman calls it "easy cake"—I call it delicious. When cranberries are in season, serve it with vanilla ice cream and your friends will love you. I have to agree with Ina, in that this is a very easy dessert to make. This is more like a "cheater pie" in that there isn't any dough to roll, shape and crimp. I loved the cake part so much, that I want to make a version with only apples, and I also want to make a version with berries. If you omit the apples, then you might want to add a thickener since the pectin in the apples helps as a natural thickener.
I love this recipe!

Ingredients

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over for stems
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and medium-diced
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (2 oranges)
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 1/8 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 pound (1-stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Combine the cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.

With the mixer on medium, add 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla, and sour cream and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour and salt.

Pour the fruit mixture evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour the batter over the fruit, covering it completely.

Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a tooth-pick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: This dessert can be tangy, if your palate is sensitive to cranberries. I'd suggest either cutting back on how many cranberries you use, or increasing the sugar a bit. This cake would be delicious with most any kind of fruit, and even just all apple would be great.

Adding granulated sugar gives a nice crunchy texture to the cake.