Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Sweet and moist olive oil cake topped with tangy leftover cranberry sauce, this cranberry upside down cake makes an easy dessert when entertaining over the holidays. Find more olive oil cake recipes here.

Did you know that leftover cranberry sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks? This is because cranberries are highly acidic, which discourages bacteria growth. So odds are, you have some cranberry sauce leftover from Thanksgiving in your refrigerator right now.

I have already shared my Leftover Cranberry Sauce Scones – oh so delicious. And today I am sharing another delight. Two classic flavor combinations, orange and cranberry, come together in this very moist cranberry upside down cake.

Ingredients you need

• Butter: This bit of butter is melted on the bottom of the cast iron pan and mixed with the brown sugar and fruit. It adds tremendous flavor. You can use salted or unsalted butter.
• Brown Sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar. Because brown sugar has molasses in it, it makes a beautiful syrup for the fruit to simmer in.
• Leftover Cranberry Sauce: Any of your favorite cranberry sauce can be used. I used my leftover Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce for this post.
• Plain Greek Yogurt: Most of my cakes are made with yogurt. It helps keep your cakes moist and beautiful. If you do not have yogurt, you can also use sour cream.
• Orange juice and zest: Orange and cranberries pair wonderfully together and add a fabulous citrus note to the cake.
• Extra virgin olive oil: I bake my cakes exclusively with olive oil. Choose a mild flavored olive oil, not a peppery one. You can also use an orange infused olive oil. You can learn about how to bake with olive oil here.
• Eggs: A must for cakes. I use large eggs for all of my baking.
• Pantry staples: All purpose flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar

Step-by-step recipe directions

1. Prepare fruit layer. Melt the butter then stir in brown sugar. Cook until sugar has dissolved then spread mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan. Spread cranberry sauce over the bottom of the pan and set aside.
2. Combine sugar with wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, yogurt, orange juice, orange zest, olive oil and eggs until combined.
3. Add dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In batches, mix flour mixture into yogurt mixture and stir until combined.
4. Bake the cake. Pour cake batter evenly over the cranberry sauce in your cast iron pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Invert cake. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Run a knife along the sides of the cake. Place serving plate over the skillet and flip it over. Keep the skillet on the plate until the cake falls into the plate. Allow cake to cool to room temperature before serving.

Expert Tips and Recipe FAQS

Upside down cakes are an easy way to bake with seasonal fruit and create a beautiful cake. All without a piping bag and no fancy baking skills required!

• When baking cakes, do not over mix the batter once the flour is mixed in. You want to mix it until just incorporated, otherwise your cake will be dense.
• Serve your upside down cake alone, with whipped cream or top with vanilla ice cream.
• Cast iron pans are great vessels for baking any upside down cake because they retain heat so well and go from stove top to the oven easily.

Upside down cakes are a great way to showcase fresh fruit in season. I have made many different varieties of upside down cakes. For spring make my kumquat upside down cake. Summer beckons for an upside down strawberry rhubarb cake  and fall is perfect for my grape upside down cake.

Orange Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Laura Bashar | Family Spice

Sweet and moist orange cake topped with tangy leftover cranberry sauce, this Orange Cranberry Upside Down Cake makes an easy dessert when entertaining over the holidays.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Additional Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course Cakes

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Calories 327 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoon light brown sugar packed
• 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce
• 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup thick plain Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoon orange zest
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 large eggs

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Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Using a 9-inch cast iron skillet, heat over medium-high heat and melt butter.
• When butter is bubbling and just starts to brown, stir in brown sugar.
• Cook until sugar has dissolved into the butter and starts to melt, then remove from heat. Spread sugar mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan.
• Remove pan from heat and gently spread leftover cranberry sauce evenly over the brown sugar.
• In a medium-sized bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a large bowl, mix together sugar, yogurt, orange juice, orange zest, olive oil and eggs until combined.
• In batches, mix flour mixture into yogurt mixture and stir until combined.
• Pour cake batter evenly over the cranberry sauce in your cast iron pan.
• Place cake in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
• Run a knife blade along the sides of the cake to insure a clean removal.
• Place serving plate over the cast iron skillet and carefully invert the cake. Keep the skillet on the plate until the cake falls into the plate.
• Remove skillet and allow cake to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour before serving.

Notes

Cooking Tips: Thick Greek yogurt, like the Fage brand, is used in this recipe. If you do can not find thick yogurt, drain your regular yogurt with a cheese cloth or coffee filter until it becomes thick like sour cream.

TO STORE: You can store any leftover cake on the counter, covered with foil or plastic wrap, as long as the room is cool and not hot. Because of the wet fruit topping, though, I prefer to cover and refrigerate leftovers. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

 

TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftover cake. Wrap slices in foil and freeze for up to 4 months.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 327kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 5gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 130mgFiber: 1gSugar: 27g

Keyword cranberry upside down cake

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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