Cranberry teacake

Let’s talk about cranberries.

I made Everyday Food’s cranberry upside-down cake as our Thanksgiving offering, and it was pretty good. But cold from the fridge, two days old: it is wonderful. I guess it needed to ripen? In any case, it couldn’t compete with pumpkin pie in the Thanksgiving dessert lineup, but slam this puppy down with tea and sandwiches and you’ve got a winner!

I worried about the cake turning out, what with the “upside-down” concept, but it flipped with ease, and a satisfying, graceful plonk. Truth be told, the hardest part was getting the batter from the bowl onto the cranberry layer in the pan (the batter was quite sticky and I had to mash it to the edges of the cake pan with my fingers).

On a cake stand, the cranberries glitter a deep, syrupy red and the whole thing becomes a shiny jewel—like in the Cave of Wonders when Abu’s eyes gleam with the reflection of that ginormous, forbidden ruby. It is as pretty the first day, as it is delicious the next. The cranberries are tart, juicy, and fantastic, while the cake is not too sweet, and dense without being dry. It really is more of a teacake than a dessert cake.

You’ll go ruby-eyed for this one: it’s right-side-up flavor, in an upside-down package.