The first time I prepared this cranberry upside-down cake, I neglected to include the egg whites, but it still turned out well. yet, the egg whites made it much better. This recipe was sent to me by a friend, and after I had it for a while, I decided to make it when I noticed some fresh cranberries on sale.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 1 9-inch cake |
Ingredients
- ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ pound fresh cranberries
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, separated, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9-inch round cake pan.
- Place brown sugar and butter into the prepared pan and place the pan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar has dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Scatter cranberries over the butter-sugar mixture. Set aside.
- Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
- Beat white sugar and butter together in another bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Fold in the flour mixture in 3 additions using a silicone or rubber spatula, alternating with milk.
- Beat egg whites in another bowl using a whisk or an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold whites into the batter using a spatula. Spoon batter over the cranberries in the cake pan, spreading evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Invert onto a serving plate, let stand for 5 minutes, then lift off pan.
- Whip heavy cream in a bowl using a whisk or an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stir in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract.
- Cut the cooled cake into wedges and top with whipped cream.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 565 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 71 g |
| Cholesterol | 129 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Sodium | 237 mg |
| Sugars | 49 g |
| Fat | 30 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great idea and flavor was good, however, I used a 9in cake pan and it cooked over so that was a bummer. Don’t recall the recipe stating the needed height of the pan. Mine was 1.5in tall, for reference. Nice bright flavor with the sweetness and fairly easy to make. Did seem like the time could have been cut down. I checked mine at the 55 min mark and it was well done and the cranberries were on the verge of burning on the bottom. Cake came out of pan easily which was great and cake was fluffy, but a tad dry. Would make again but play around with timing/recipe.
I didn’t make the whipped cream, but I made the cake exactly as written. It was fantastic! Served while still slightly warm with store-bought whipped cream (just a small dollop, or skip the whipped cream) this cake was perfectly light and tart, but still sweet. I wouldn’t change a thing. Use a fairly tall 9” pie or springform pan, or just cut off the portion of the cake that grows over the rim of the pan. I will make this every year when cranberries are are in season around the holidays.
I’m not a fan of super sweet desserts–and with that said, I found this cake to actually need more sugar in it. While I love a really bright burst of tart cranberry flavor, I felt like this was a bit too tart. I’m thinking that another 1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar in the topping would go a long way to helping that. I found the actual cake portion to be drowned-out flavor-wise, as the cranberries really took over everything. If I made it again, I would definitely add more sugar to the topping, more vanilla extract to the cake (and maybe a bit of almond extract too), and probably swap the milk for either buttermilk or sour cream. Overall, this is a stunningly beautiful cake, that’s worth making–with a few tweaks. Thanks for the recipe!