Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Cranberry Vanilla Coffee Cake


What could be more perfect than this recipe. I had about 2 cups of cranberries in the freezer and some vanilla sugar in my pantry that I have been adding pods to forever. I orginially saw the post on 3 B's Baseball, Baking and Books and have since seen it on quite a few blogs. So, I guess I was not the only one who was wowed by this recipe. I liked the taste of it so it will be a repeater. If you already have vanilla sugar on hand it is a quick throw together for company. Next time I make it, I will try another fruit, like blueberries.

Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake
adapted from this recipe from Epicurious

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (6 oz)
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk


Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan. Line bottom with a round of parchment paper and butter parchment.

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a food processor with tip of a paring knife. Add sugar and pulse to combine. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Pulse cranberries with 1/2 cup vanilla sugar in processor until finely chopped.

In a bowl combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer beat together 1 stick butter and 1 cup vanilla sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down side and bottom of bowl. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour, until just combined. Spread half of batter in pan, then spoon cranberry mixture over it, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge. Top with remaining batter and smooth top. Blend remaining 1/4 cup vanilla sugar with remaining Tbsp each of butter and flour using your fingertips. Crumble over top of cake. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into cake (not into cranberry filling) comes out clean and side begins to pull away from pan, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes, then remove from pan onto cooling rack and cool completely. Flip onto serving platter and dust with confectioners if desired.

10 comments:

Lucy..♥ said...

Lori, this cake looks so good and w/cranberries makes even more tempting for me. Currently have about 4 bags of cranberries in the freezer that I need to use, and this fits into my plans.... thanks for the post!

Bunny said...

This looks fantastic Lori, it makes me wish I had cranberies in the feezer...but wait I do have bluebeeries!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Lori, this looks great, but I have a bad relationship with cranberries for baking. I don't have an overly sweet tooth but I find them too tart for cakes or cookies. I love them in savory dishes. I'm going to try this with the last of my frozen blackberries. I'll keep you posted.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Lori thanks! So glad you liked it. Yours looks great. I especially like that last photo...yours are waaaay better than mine. As a matter of fact I checked out the recipe link and your photos are better than gourmet's too. What were they thinking?

Genius idea subbing another fruit...I'm thinking raspberries for me with maybe lime scented sugar?
~ingrid

Lori said...

Lucy- I am so glad, I love to hear that kind of feedback!

Bunny- thank you, I think blueberries would be so good in this. I amde some blueberry vanilla jam last summer and it was amazingly good.

Mary- blackberries would be amazing too. Mary you do mix the cranberries with quite a bit of sugar so while it is tart, it isnt overly tart.

Ingrid. a brilliant combination. Raspberries and lime- yum!

Lo said...

This looks fabulous. I love a good vanilla coffee cake, and the cranberries make this even MORE appealing! Bet tart cherries would be great here too!

kat said...

Oh my, that looks like a decadent weekend breakfast treat!

diana said...

Hello. I review recent the movie Pillow talk. Nice.

Jude said...

Beautiful cake. You know, it took a while for me to figure out that coffee cake had no actual coffee in it :(

grace said...

the cake itself looks insanely moist, and i'd love that tart layer of cranberry goodness. that being said, i think blueberries would be even better. gorgeous treat, lori!