Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

The sugar, spices and orange zest make a wonderful syrup as the cake bakes, creating the perfect foil to the tart cranberries. This cake is lovely as the finish to dinner, or a nice mid-morning snack with coffee. Adapted from a recipe in Everyday Food.

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 8  tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature divided
• 1  cup sugar, divided
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon allspice
• 1  teaspoon orange zest (optional)
• 1 3⁄4 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1  egg
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
2. Rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round pan with 2 Tablespoons of the butter.
3. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of the sugar, the cinnamon, allspice and orange zest.
4. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan, then arrange cranberries in a single layer on top.
5. Cream remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Add egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
7. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
8. Add this to the egg and sugar mixture in several batches, alternating with with milk, until well combined.
9. Spoon batter over cranberries, and even out the top.
10. Bake on center rack of the oven until a toothpick inserted to the center of the batter comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.
11. Let cool for 20 minutes, then run a kinfe around the edge of the cake.
12. Place a platter over the top of the baking pan, and turn cake out onto platter.