I love this recipe. I have been making it since I was pregnant with Henry.
Once I was finally over the awful nausea of the first trimester, but fully into the exhaustion that occurs when you are pregnant and taking care of a toddler, Violet and I began to take moments in the evening just before it was time to start dinner to watch the FoodNetwork together. We usually only tuned in for Giada or Ina, their food always looked so lovely! One day Giada shared her recipe for Cranberry Cornmeal Cake. It looked so yummy that Violet and I found the ingredients in the pantry and made it that evening for desert.
It was delicious! And, since that evening it has been one of my go to desserts during the winter months. I have even made mini loaves of it to give as gifts during Christmastime. The texture from the cornmeal and the brightness from the cranberries and orange make it good for any time of the day, breakfast, tea, or dessert.
We made it the other day and thought we ought to share...
I did make a few changes to the original recipe. The biggest change, is that I use fresh cranberries, instead of dried, as called for in the recipe.
Just grab a bag of fresh cranberries at the store, pick through the not so good ones and rinse them. Then add them to a pot along with about 4 tablespoons of water. Let them simmer and pop while you are mixing the rest of the ingredients together.
Turn them off and let them cool a bit when they look this, mush...
Oh, after you zest one of your oranges...
Squeeze the juice of one of them into your cranberries.
Also, since a bag of fresh cranberries is more than what is called for in the original recipe, I double the recipe, but cut back on the sugar, 2 cups (instead of 2 1/2 which is what double the recipe would be).
A warning, this recipe does use A LOT of eggs and egg yolks. Do you know the egg yolk trick? The one where you use an empty water bottle to suck up the yolk?
It's like magic. The kids (and I) get so excited over it every time, a very fun way to separate your eggs!
Anywho, once you've got your cranberries cooled a bit and all of your ingredients mixed together, fold your cranberries into your batter. They turn the batter a beautiful reddish pink color.
And, now put the batter into a pan and bake. We made mini muffins and a bundt cake this go around, but other times I have used mini loaf pans, regular cake pans, really use what you have, just keep your eye on it. Our mini muffins took about 17 min. and our bundt took about 40min.
And let me tell you, the orange and the tart pop of the cranberries and the bit of coarseness of the cornmeal all come together in one deliciously yummy bite...
Give it a try. Enjoy!
