I come from a long line of sturdy German/Scandinavian farm women long devoted to potluck pride. These are stoic, sensible women who do what needs to be done with no room for nonsense, fashion or attention-getting schemes. So the potluck is their way of showing off in a way that allows them to pretend it’s not showing off.
“Oh, land sakes. They’re just cookies!” they’d say. “Aw, haven’t you ever seen a casserole before? ‘Twasn’t anything special.” No compliments are ever accepted, but we know they are proud of their potluck offerings – you can tell by the sparkle in their eye and the slightest twitch of a smile on their lips.
My daughter’s Christmas program was last week, and a potluck followed. We decided to bring the Absolutely Almond Cranberry-Crusted Cake from our website, and oh my stars … what an amazing cake it was! The church-goers fairly licked the platter clean and I was filled with pride … not only for the cake, but also for my heritage and Tastefully Simple … we’ve got good stuff!
Check out the testing notes for some ideas, and have a cranberry cake for the holidays!
j*a*N*e
Absolutely Almond Cranberry-Crusted Cake
Submitted by Cheri Clausen (MN)
Ingredients
2 cups chopped cranberries
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup white sugar
Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix™
1 cup water
¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter
Directions
Combine first 3 ingredients; pat into bottom and up sides of a greased deep-dish pie plate. Prepare Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix as directed on package with water and butter. Pour over cranberry crust; bake at 325° for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 8-10 servings.
Testing notes:
- I used a mini-bundt pan, because a) I have one and b) I thought this cake would look cute in bundt format … and it did!
- However … using the bundt pan seemed to necessitate the addition of a glaze (it looked kind of naked without it). So we made a simple glaze out of ½ cup of powdered sugar, some orange zest and some juice squeezed from the orange. It was wonderful, and the addition of the orange to the cranberry cake was marvelous.
- I always make Absolutely Almond Pound Cake using ¼ cup of butter and ½ cup of applesauce instead of ¾ cup of butter. I don’t miss the extra butter a bit (neither do my thighs!), and I think the flavor and texture is perfect, so I highly recommend it!
- I was going to chop the cranberries with a big chef’s knife, but that proved to be a slow process (with lots of cranberries bouncing off the floors, the walls and me!), so I shifted gears and used the food processor – much easier!
- Tip: to get the cake neatly out of the pan and onto the cooling rack, position the cooling rack on top of your pan (see photo). Make sure you have the legs of the rack pointed in the right direction, then just flip the whole works over. Works like a charm!
Absolutely Almond Cranberry-Crusted Cake
- Yield: 8-10 Servings
- Cook: 55-60 mins
I come from a long line of sturdy German/Scandinavian farm women long devoted to potluck pride. These are stoic, sensible women who do …
Ingredients
- 2 cups cranberries chopped
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix™
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup butter melted
Instructions
- Combine first 3 ingredients; pat into bottom and up sides of a greased deep-dish pie plate. Prepare Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix as directed on package with water and butter. Pour over cranberry crust; bake at 325° for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 8-10 servings.
- Cooking Method: Bake
Looking forward to making this for Christmas morning brunch! I love the idea of using the applesauce in place of some of the butter… Looks delish!
Hmmmm….My husband just informed me he needs a dessert for a food day in his office next week. I’m thinking I found a winner!
Just wondering if it cut easily or did the cranberry crust fall apart. It looks so yummy, I can’t wait to make this!
Hi Paula – it cuts very easily. A few little chunks of cranberry might come off, but not much.
So excited to try this recipe! My family Christmas is this weekend and I think I need to make this cake to take with me – so pretty and easy!
Another testing note – The 2nd time I made this, I over-zinged the cranberries in the food processor. This resulted in more juice from the cranberries being released, and when I unmolded the cake, some of the cranberries stuck in the pan. I was able to get them out and reapply them to the cake with a spatula, but it was cuter when didn’t over chop the cranberries!
Also – if you make the glaze, keep it a little on the thick side, otherwise it will all slide off your cake and onto the plate.
Looks sooooo good! Do you think craisins would work?
Hi Sue – hmmm….they might. Since craisins are dried, they are more concentrated so I wouldn’t use 2 cups. Maybe 1 or 1 1/2 cups, first soaked in hot water for 5 min & then well-drained. I think using craisins would result in a chewier texture to the coating, which may not be unpleasant…just different. Let me know if you try it!
so is a mini bundt pan different than a regular bundt pan? I have one that I’ve made the choc. and alm. pound cake swirled in. Is my pan too big for one pound cake mix? if I don’t use my bundt pan, what do I use? An 8×8, a 9×13, a loaf pan? Does it dump out of that looking like a pineapple upside down cake? I need to impress my family on Christmas eve and must figure out the pan potential before I attempt it. lol
Hi Theresa – I used a 6-cup mini bundt – which is smaller than a regular sized bundt pan. If you don’t have one, you can use a deep-dish pie plate or a 9″ or 10″ spring form pan. If you make a double batch (i.e. use two Almond Pound Cake mixes), you could use your full-sized bundt pan.
Jane-I wondered the same thing Theresa did…how big is a mini bundt pan? I have the regular 1970′s bundt pan. I was thinking of replacing it with the 8×8 baking dish. Please share your insights
Hey ‘Chele – Merry Merry! I used a 6-cup bundt. From the 70s.
but it is an odd size, so if you don’t have one I would use a spring form pan (either 9″ or 10″). I’m not sure that a square baker would release the cake very well…those corners can be buggers, and the center often gets suction-cupped in. Not cute!!
The original recipe called for a deep-dish pie plate, but my pie plates aren’t anywhere near deep enough, which is why I wound up using the obscure mini bundt. But maybe you have a big honkin’ pie plate! A large loaf pan might work, too.
Let me know how it turns out!
Just got done with my absolutely almond cranberry bundt! Ta Da!!! I used a regular bundt pan so it did have a ways to go to come out, but it worked! It will make the best Christmas day dessert!! Thanks Jane! Merry Christmas! Love “Chele
Thank you! Bought my cranberries and I’m ready to rock!
Just made this last night using our Classy Choc pound cake. Oh how pretty it looks! Can’t wait to share it today! Thanks for putting this into pictures for us visual people.
I used my non-mini bundt pan and it worked great – not as tall as yours in the photo but plenty cute and cake-like. The topping is a little tart for my taste and I have no orange to zest or juice for the glaze so I’m gonna try using orange juice to make a drizzle before I take it to Christmas Eve dinner tonite. Since the larger bundt pan makes a shorter cake, it looks like a wreath! So festive. Wish I had some little sprigs of mint garnish to look like holly! : )
Wow that looks so good