I wanted to make a cranberry dessert for a Thanksgiving potluck. Martha Stewart had this recipe for a New England Cranberry Duff.
I am from New England and have never heard of a duff before. After playing around with The Google and learning way more about this dude than I have ever cared to know, I learned that it’s usually made with plums, and better known as plum pudding.
Also, it looks nothing like this recipe.
So between Martha’s screw up, and my changes, I’m calling it a snack cake. A very delicious, buttery, fruity snack cake.
And if it’s not cranberry season, I think this would be excellent with fresh berries.
Cranberry Snack Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened
1 12 ounce bag of cranberries
1/2 cup ground almonds
2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat, being careful not to brown., and set aside to cool slightly.
Line a 9X13 glass baking dish with parchment paper and generously butter it, using about 4 tablespoons of the butter. You don’t want this to stick, so just spread it thick. Then, pour the cranberries evenly over bottom of dish.
Sprinkle the ground almonds and 2/3 cup of sugar on top and set aside.
Mix the eggs, the remaining white sugar, and the brown sugar in a bowl, until thoroughly combined and thick. Add the vanilla extract. Gradually stir in the flour and salt.
Add the melted butter to the mixture slowly, stirring until smooth.
Slowly pour batter into pan to cover cranberries, making sure that they stay spread out evenly. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge to loosen, and invert to unmold. It will be somewhat upside down cake like, so you want to flip it so the cranberries are on top.
I sliced mine into 28 wedges, which made for a perfect size for a party with lots of desserts. If this was the only dessert you were serving, you would probably want to cut bigger slices. You can serve it warm or at room temperature, with forks or without.
