Ditch the fruitcake, and make this cake instead.
There’s a lot of intricate decorative work, and my tiny apartment kitchen can barely handle it.
Can’t find freshcranberries?
Credit:Johnny Miller
Seneviratne provides instructions on how to swap in frozen.
It also only requires a single 13 x 9-inch baking pan and a hand mixer.
No piping bags or special equipment of any kind required.
Credit:Courtesy of Samantha Seneviratne
The hallmark of this recipe is the gooey topping made from a simplebrown sugarcrumble.
Like many tender, moist cakes,sour creamis the secret weapon in the batter.
The fatty dairy product adds more richness than even buttermilk can, for a super supple crumb.
Or it can be served warm with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream at a holiday dinner party.
No matter the occasion, this humblesheet cakewill feel just as festive as holiday cookies, trust me.
(And so much better than a fruitcake, that’s for sure.)
Ingredients
Crumb:
6Tbsp.
(1 stick; 113g)butter, at room temperature
1Tbsp.
Directions
Prepare oven and pan:
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Add the butter and, with an electric mixer on medium speed, mix it in.
The mixture should look like evenly moistened sand.
(Beating the orange zest with the butter allows its flavor to permeate the batter more effectively.)
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the bowl as necessary.
Beat in the vanilla.
Beat in half of the flour mixture, then the sour cream, and then the remaining flour mixture.
(The layer will be thin.)
Sprinkle about 1 cup of the crumb mixture evenly over the top.
Top with about half of the cranberries.
Dollop the remaining batter over the top of the cranberries and spread it out evenly with the offset spatula.
Top with the remaining cranberries.
Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top, squeezing it into various-sized pieces.
If you used fresh cranberries, start checking the cake at around 35 minutes.
If the cranberries were frozen, the cake may take up to 55 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool completely.
Source
Recipe fromBAKE SMART Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yoursby Samantha Seneviratne.
Copyright 2023 by Samantha Seneviratne.
Used with permission by Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins.
