Cranberry Orange Cake

There was a remarkable confluence of events in Southern California this week. First, it was overcast and slightly drizzly. This is not actually as odd as one might think (we have a month of it, June Gloom, every year), but after a long period of extremely boring sunny days, I was thrilled to have something resembling actual weather. Second, my freezer became full. Again, this is hardly unusual, as my freezer is roughly the size of my microwave and I tend to throw things in there on a regular basis. Third, it occurred to me that I still had a few wedding gifts I hadn’t used, likely because I started graduate school a month after the happy occasion (two years this August). And lo, I had the perfect excuse to make the best of these parallel situations – cranberry cake.

See, I have several bags of cranberries taking up room in my freezer, as I adore them and can only get fresh ones during the holiday season. The proper cake would allow me to use my bundt pan, which for various reasons I had been thrilled to receive but had never played with. And, with the grey skies and chilly temperature, I could pretend it was late fall in Massachusetts, my favorite time of year, with all of the accompanying holiday flavors.

My plans were nearly dashed when a quick search on the internet revealed nothing but the most boring cranberry cake recipes. For such a delicious and versatile ingredient, no one seemed to have anything better than a vanilla cake with some orange zest and berries thrown in. I’m sure my out-of-control cookbook collection has an answer to this dilemma, but there was no time – the sun was already making an appearance! So I found a recipe that was bundt-compatible and looked reasonably tasty, and threw in some extra autumn spices, a handful of pecans, and a glaze to make the whole thing more celebratory. I’m sure I’ll be playing with it more around the holiday season, but for now, this has a little tartness, a little sweetness, and just a hint of spice – an excellent answer to my craving. If you are inclined to join me for my ode to Christmas this summer, you could easily resuscitate some dried cranberries in a combination of water, orange juice, and bourbon, and I’m sure the cake would be equally good, if little sweeter. Otherwise, file this away for the 2010 holiday season – I intend to start my celebrations now.

Cranberry Orange Cake
Adapted from Recipezaar

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (to taste – I used 2)
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
2 cups fresh cranberries (or frozen, not thawed) – about one bag
¼ cup orange juice
1 ½ teaspoons orange zest, finely grated (zest of one orange)
½ - ¾ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup finely chopped candied crystallized ginger (or more)
Sifted powdered sugar OR glaze made from 1 cup powdered sugar and 2-4 tablespoons orange juice (juice from one orange)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare bundt or tube pan with a light coat of cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice.


In a large bowl, cream the butter with and electric mixer. Add sugar and beat until pale, light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition for a total of two or three minutes. Beat in vanilla extract.

Mix together the yogurt and orange juice in a small bowl. Alternately add the yogurt mixture and the flour mixture to the creamed butter and eggs in thirds, mixing after each addition. Add the ginger and the orange zest, and mix to combine.


Manually fold in the cranberries, and nuts, distributing throughout the batter (warning – if you use frozen berries, the batter will seize up a bit and become difficult to work with; with fresh berries, the problem will instead be to fold without crushing them).

Pour batter into the prepare tube pan and bake for 50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Be very careful not to over bake. If the top starts to get too brown before the cake is done, cover with aluminum foil.


Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes until turning onto cake rack or plate. Unmold onto rack to finish cooling. Glaze while just warm, or coat with powdered sugar once the cake had completely cooled. Serve with sweet whipped cream or crème anglaise to counter the tart berries.

Spicy Balsamic Strawberry Preserves

I recently returned from California’s Central Coast, the land of strawberries. If you are ever in Arroyo Grande for their annual strawberry festival, you will know the bliss of eating a parfait of the world’s best berries, homemade fudge sauce, and fresh whipped cream. And every time I visit the area, I get a batch of juicy red fruit for my husband, a true strawberry aficionado (there is in fact a strawberry farm across the street from my apartment, but those from the Central Coast always seem sweeter). Usually, I buy a flat, which is roughly nine pints of berries, and they disappear quickly (friends will remember the great Berry Battle of 2008, when my best friend and my husband finished off the entire flat in just under an hour – winner still undetermined). However, on this occasion, the boy could not manage to finish them all, and I was forced to come up with an alternative plan for the many remaining berries.

Luckily, I located the following recipe. Strawberry preserves seemed too mundane for such gorgeous berries, so this spicy version was a perfect experiment. It also had the added benefit of allowing me to use up my balsamic vinegar and pepper, both of which were almost empty. Sadly, I didn’t reduce my batch enough (more like syrup than preserves, though the flavor was still excellent), so word to the wise – make sure the liquid is nearly gone! The mixture looks like a lot when you put the ingredients together initially, but the recipe doesn’t produce as much as you think it will. It is, however, the perfect amount of spread for a wine and cheese party, and a jar or two to give to friends who attend.


Spicy Balsamic Strawberry Preserves
Adapted from: Gourmet Magazine, June 1997

Ingredients:
4 cups strawberries (about 2 ½ pints), trimmed and quartered
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper (or more if you like it quite spicy)


Directions:
In a small heavy saucepan bring all ingredients to a boil, stirring occasionally, and skimming the surface (a light brown foam will appear, and will cloud the final product if you don’t skim). Be careful with the pepper – the taste will intensify as it simmers down, so start with less and add more as necessary, tasting (carefully – it burns!) along the way. Simmer mixture, stirring and skimming foam occasionally, 30-60 minutes, or until thickened and translucent. The exact time depends on the juiciness of your berries and the consistency of your vinegar. Make sure nearly all the liquid is gone, or you will get syrup instead of spread. Remove pan from heat and cool preserves completely, or process while still warm. Unprocessed preserves keep, covered and chilled, 1 month.


To can the preserves, you will essentially follow the standard canning directions. Sterilize mason jars and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water for 10 minutes and place upside down on a clean towel to drain briefly. Once excess water has run out, use a canning funnel to fill the jars, leaving a ¼ inch head room. Place the lids in the boiling water to soften for 1-2 minutes. Wipe the rims of the filled jars (use mitts – the jars are hot) using a damp paper towel. Place the hot lids on top, and secure with the sterilized rings. Gently return the full jars to the pot of boiling water with 1-2 inches of boiling water and process for 10 minutes. Remove to the towel and let cool. Jars that have been processed correctly will “pop” as they seal; the lids will seal and no longer have the ability to flex up and down.


To Serve:
Spoon on top of crostini spread with goat cheese or cream cheese – in fact, this would be good with any sort of cheese plate. It’s also delicious with scones or muffins, on buttermilk biscuits, or on vanilla ice cream for a sassy dessert.

Yield:
Makes about 3-4 cups, or 2-3 mason jars

Amaretto-Brown Sugar Cheesecake

I love to cook. Love to bake. Love to try exotic flavors. Sadly, my local friends are less inclined towards experimentation. So, I walk a thin culinary line - what can I make that will intrigue me, without alienating them? Last week, we had guests over for a duel celebration – my birthday, their engagement. What dessert to serve? Cheesecake seemed like a friendly and versatile option, and many of my (further afield) friends had some excellent flavor suggestions. In the end, I decided to go with something both familiar and unusual, at least in a cheesecake. Amaretto was new for me, since I hadn’t made many cheesecakes with liqueurs, and thought I could do with a little practice. Brown sugar, one of my favorite ingredients, also seemed like a good chance to do something slightly off the beaten track without terrifying my guests. The result was a cheesecake with very subtle flavor and sweetness, devastatingly rich (berries very necessary), and of a pretty darn good texture. The basic recipe can be changed to make room for any number of flavor agents, and someday, when my exotic friends come over, I’ll throw in mangoes, rum, caramel swirls, and who knows what else. In the meantime, this was fun to play around with.

A quick note on the (very detailed - sorry) recipe itself – the crust was excellent, in that it was practically water-tight. Many novice cheesecakers like myself have trouble keeping moisture out – I took a suggestion from a reviewer and added a few tablespoons of honey. It did add a bit of gooeyness to the crust, but I preferred that to soggy crust syndrome. Cookies and nuts can be switched out to suit your fancy. I also added a tablespoon of flour to the recipe just for stability, because the recipe is on the custardy side, and I worried it wouldn’t set well (a fear I believe was unfounded, but if you’re making this to serve to others it can’t hurt). Finally, I settled on strawberries because they are a favorite of my newly-engaged girlfriend, but I believe any berry with a little tartness would work equally well. Play with this recipe – it’s a bit time consuming, but worth it!

Amaretto-Brown Sugar Cheesecake

Adapted from “The Ultimate Cheesecake” by Tyler Florence
Yield: 8-12 servings

Ingredients
Crust:
½ cup ground ginger snaps
½ cup coarsely ground toasted almonds
1 cup finely ground amaretti cookies (18 cookies)
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. honey
¾ stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 pound cream cheese, 2 (8-ounce) blocks, softened (leave at room temp for one hour)
3 eggs (leave at room temp for one hour)
½ cup brown sugar (packed)
½ cup white sugar
1 ¾ cups sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2.5 T. amaretto
1 T. flour

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set a kettle of water to boil.

For the Crust:
In a mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients with a fork (or your fingers) until evenly moistened. Trace a circle the size of the bottom of the pan (preferably an 8-inch springform pan) on parchment paper and cut out – it must fit EXACTLY inside the bottom of the pan (if the overlap goes into the sides, you’ll have leakage). Save the long scraps to make collar for the side of the cheesecake. Using cooking spray to “glue” the parchment to the pan, place the circle in the bottom, and press the cuff along the sides, then lightly coat the bottom and sides with a touch more nonstick cooking spray - this will make it easier to remove the cake from the pan after chilling.



Pour the crumbs into the pan and, using the bottom of a measuring cup or the smooth bottom of a glass, press the crumbs down into the base and up the sides as far as it will hold. Refrigerate for 5 minutes to ensure a solid pack. Then place in the oven for 5-10 minutes, just until fragrant and dry. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F. Cool on a wire rack (takes roughly 30 minutes). Once cooled, spray the crust with a layer of canola oil or cooking spray.



For the Filling:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the softened cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute, stopping to scrape down sides and beater, until smooth and free of any lumps. You don’t want to over beat after adding the eggs, so make sure it’s super creamy now. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat slowly until combined. Gradually add brown and white sugars a few tablespoons at a time (alternating colors, if you can) and beat until creamy, for 1 to 2 minutes. Add sour cream, amaretto, and vanilla. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. The batter should be well mixed but not over-beaten.



To Bake and Cool:
Set the cheesecake pan on a large piece of extra-wide aluminum foil (you NEED the kind 18” wide, or you will end up with leaks and be very sad) or use two sheets to create a double layer (or triple, if you’re a worrier). Press the foil UP, tightening it close to the pan, trimming or crimping any pieces that creep too high. Check for cracks at the bottom. Carry cake only by the sides from now on. Place the cake pan in a larger roasting pan, and pour the filling into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bang it down once on the bottom if your crust can handle it…it will bring up some potential air bubbles. Put the pan with the cake centered inside on the pulled-out oven rack. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan at the corner until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake, but some steam in likely to condense in the layers, so don’t panic if you see some moisture when you unwrap.



Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. The cheesecake should still JUST jiggle (it will firm up after chilling), but not be runny, so be careful not to over or under cook (experience is key – and know your oven!). Leave in oven, with the oven turned off and with the oven door slightly open, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and pan, remove foil wrappings, and cool on rack 30 minutes. Finally, chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered first with a paper towel stretched across the top (for condensation), then with plastic wrap, for at least 8 hours.



To Serve:
Unmold the cake from the cuff section of the springform and transfer to a cake plate by sliding the cake off the base of the pan using the parchment paper base. Remove the parchment from the sides, but leave the bottom in place. Top with fresh berries, sour cream, whipped cream, or toasted almonds.
Slice the cheesecake with a thin, non-serrated knife that has been dipped in hot water. Wipe dry after each cut.