Thursday, November 15, 2012

Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Cake

I’m enjoying this concept of tryouts for Thanksgiving dessert. Why didn’t I think of this years ago? It’s a perfect excuse to sample several desserts, test the recipes, and eventually make a decision for our menu. Today’s contestant hails from the LA Times. I believe I stumbled upon it two years ago when it was part of a slideshow of Thanksgiving dishes, but it was originally published in the paper in 2008. I hope you’re not thinking this is a light and healthy dessert with the fruit and cornmeal in its title. I wouldn’t want you imagining this isn’t rich and decadent enough for the biggest food holiday of the year. No, this is a buttery cake with plenty of eggs and ricotta to make the crumb very tender. There are also maple syrup and vanilla along with the orange zest and fresh cranberries. It has all the flavors we love at this time of year, and it’s easy to make.

The recipe recommends using a nine-inch cake pan that is three inches tall. My cake pans are two inches tall. So, I used a nine-inch springform pan which is taller. You’ll want to butter and flour it well, and place a round of parchment in the bottom of the pan. My cake stuck on one side of the springform pan just a little. Next time, I’ll add a ring of parchment around the inside of the pan as well. The dry ingredients were whisked together, and those included flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, eggs, maple syrup, vegetable oil, and vanilla were combined. In the bowl of a stand mixer, butter, sugar, and orange zest were creamed. The egg mixture was added to the butter and combined. Then, the dry ingredients were mixed into the batter in two parts. Ricotta was added with the second addition along with some fresh cranberries. The batter was poured into the prepared springform pan, more fresh cranberries were scattered on top, and they were topped with a little sugar. The cake baked for an hour and fifteen minutes. To serve, you can choose whether you’d like the cranberry surface to be the top or bottom. I flipped it so the top was completely flat.

The cake was shown served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Since this was just a tryout, I served it plain with only a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. A dollop of maple whipped cream on each slice would be another nice way to embellish it for dessert. Or, I think this would make an excellent coffee cake for breakfast or brunch. Pies usually get more attention at Thanksgiving time, but we should make some room for cakes on the dessert table too.


24 comments:

  1. My favorite combo for cake - cranberry and orange! I bet the cornmeal texture is great too. Looks delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A beautiful cake! So moist and irresistible...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my does that look good Lisa! I think it could be so easily adapted to be gluten-free too - lucky for me. Once again I love the flavor combinations you choose.
    Happy Holidays to you!
    xo
    E

    ReplyDelete
  4. that is a gorgeous cake!! i love how moist it is!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This looks so beautiful! I always say I'm going to make a cake using cornmeal but i've never tried. Looks like it would stay nice and moist?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Lisa!

    What a scrumptious looking cake you've baked here. Love the addition of cornmeal for that rustic touch. I sure wish I could have just a nibble.

    Thank you so much for sharing...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such a fluffy and delicious cake :)

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    ReplyDelete
  8. I use a lot of recipes from the LA Times.....this cake looks like my kind of cake, I love the addition of cornmeal and orange!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanksgiving tryouts! A splendid idea! I am fond of pairing cranberries with orange, a tempting combination. Festive with seasonal flavors; a marvelous dessert!

    ReplyDelete
  10. what a unique texture! i have to say that the very idea of maple whipped cream excites me and i think it'd be perfect to complement this!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Brilliant idea on the dessert tryouts! Nothing is worse than being disappointed by a bad choice on the big day. I have no doubt your discerning taste buds will pick a resounding winner. Can't wait too see the other contestants!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a beautiful looking cake. I wish we could buy fresh cranberries here - it's even difficult to find frozen cranberries. But more than that, I wish we had Thanksgiving! xx

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is stunning, Lisa!!! And I love the try-out concept, too :) Looks like you've found a winner~

    ReplyDelete
  14. This looks great. I love the tender crumb that it seems to have. I'll be keeping this set aside for a future date.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oooo festive! I don't now where or if I can get fresh cranberries like that. They look beatiful though!

    ReplyDelete
  16. This cake looks marvelous sprinkled with festive cranberry and indulgence of ricotta and maple syrup! Oh how I wish I lived closer to you so I could help with your test kitchen!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is definitely my kind of cake... this year we won't be making dessert, we are having a joint TXG and the other hosts will be taking care of it.

    I suppose it will be pumpkin pie, but who knows? I wish it was this gorgeous cake!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love, love, love a cornmeal cake. We've had one with almond flour, almond paste and cornmeal, and it was fabulous. The ricotta probably keeps this one so tender and moist too, which is definitely what you need with some cornmeal cake recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a festive cake! I don't think I've ever made a cornmeal cake before- I'll have to add it to the list!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow what a gorgeous cake and I've bookmarked the recipe! For a cornmeal cake it looks so light and fluffy and moist! And oooh love me those cranberry desserts! Very festive!

    ReplyDelete

Blogging tips