Cranberry Upside-Downer

Is this cake in the quick breads section of the cookbook?  It definitely has the best attributes of a quick bread - easy to mix, quick to bake, delicious to eat.  I snagged a fair amount of cranberries this past season and froze them.  I have been on pins and needles waiting for an excuse to use them.  Thanks so much Sabrina, you gave me the reason I have been wanting!

I'm so glad Dorie suggests cranberries for this upside-down cake.  I have never cared much for a pineapple upside-down cake.  I am not overly fond of cooked pineapple - I really only like fresh pineapple.  I sometimes used canned pineapple - carrot cake and coleslaw - but mostly I just avoid it!  At any rate, this is so much better than the pineapple version.

First of all, the cranberries make it so festive looking.  I dug mine out of the freezer and poured them into the pan atop the melted butter.  They looked so doggone festive!  I was a bit disappointed by how much they cook down - but such is life - cooked fruits are flatter than their raw counterparts.  I am learning to live with this staggering disappointment.  A few more slices of cake and you should be able to roll me right into a happy place.

I was worried a smidgen  because the recipe mentioned nothing about cooling the cake.  It just said, take it out of the oven, loosen it from the sides of the pan - and flip it.  If some berries come off the top, just scoop them back onto the cake.  If a few cranberries stick?  I think we have a slight typo here - surely it is supposed to say something more like this: "Loosen the cranberries that are stuck to the pan with a spatula and carefully place them back atop the cranberry upside-downer.

The entire bottom of my pan was covered with stuck-behind pieces of cranberries.  No worries - I scooped them up and lay them back on the cake - voila! - crisis avoided.  Not having any current jelly on-hand, I skipped the cake glazing step.  I am all about the natural look anyway, so I am satisfied with eliminating this step.

I let the cake cool completely before I tried it.  I would have loved to have tried it when it was still warm, but I was too full from my lunch at that moment.  It is quite tasty at room temperature. 

I was slightly worried about flipping the cake onto the plate without letting it cool for any length of time in the pan.  I was afraid it would be soggy.  Happily, it was not, it was light moist and delicious!  Excellent choice Sabrina.  You can see the recipe at her blog Superfluous or you could own them all by simply buying the book!