What a yummy way to enjoy cranberries! This coffee cake can also be served as a dessert, but I love it warm for breakfast. The cornmeal cake is dense and satisfying. My husband likes to put his serving in a bowl, warm, and pour milk over it.
Topping
½ stick (¼ C.) butter or margarine
¾ C. packed brown sugar
1 bag of fresh or frozen cranberries
½ C. golden raisins (regular raisins are fine, too)
Cornmeal Cake
1 stick (1/2 C.) butter or margarine (not spread), softened
¾ C. packed brown sugar
1 T. vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
2 large eggs
2/3 C. milk
1 ¼ C. flour
1/3 C. yellow cornmeal
Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan. For the topping, put the butter in the cake pan and melt it in the oven, tilting the pan to spread it evenly and coat the sides. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly on the bottom, then add the cranberries in one layer. Scatter the raisins over top of the berries.
For the cake, cream the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and baking powder until well blended. Beat in the eggs (mixture might look curdled). On a lower speed, mix in the milk, flour, and cornmeal just until blended. Spread batter over the topping. Bake about an hour, until top is browned and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serves
8-10.
Kitchen Hint: The cooled cake keeps well for a couple of days at room temperature, or it can be wrapped well and frozen. Rewarm in the oven or microwave.