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Cranberry Orange Upside-Down Cake

slice of cranberry upside down cake on a white plate
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Make this fun and festive cranberry upside-down cake for the holidays this year and you will not be disappointed.

  • Author: Becky Schmieg
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
  • Category: Dessert

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup salted butter + 7 tbsp, divided
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries
  • zest of 2 oranges, divided
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup whole milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Melt 7 tbsp of butter and add it to a 10-inch cake pan with brown sugar while it’s still warm. Use a fork to mix together and add cranberries in an even layer over the butter/sugar mixture. Zest one of the oranges and sprinkle zest over the cranberries.
  3. Measure flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
  4. Add 1 cup of butter and granulated sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until lightened in color and fluffy.
  5. Add egg, vanilla and zest of remaining orange and beat again until creamy.
  6. Add 1/3 of the milk and beat on low until combined, then add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, beat on low until combined. Continue alternating milk and dry ingredients until all ingredients have been added and are mixed.
  7. Spread the cake batter (it will be thick) over the cranberries in an even layer.
  8. Bake for 35-45 minutes on a center rack or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  9. Allow the cake to cool for about 15 minutes before flipping. Place serving plate upside down over the top of the cake pan. Use dish towels or oven mitts to hold and flip the pan/plate. Gently lift the cake pan up to revel your beautiful cake. See notes if any of the cake sticks to the pan. 

Notes

Cake repairs after flipping – as mentioned in the post: if some cake/cranberries stick to the pan, its totally repairable! Fix it while hot as that is when the cake surface is most forgiving. Simply scrape and cranberries/cake pieces from the cake pan, flip and fit them into the spaces on the cake. It’s usually pretty easy to figure out where they go. Use the back of a metal spoon to smooth across any repairs and you are good to go.

Find it online: https://www.figjar.com/cranberry-orange-upside-down-cake/