Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake.

I almost missed them, the cranberries.  I wasn't ready to see them go!  I had it in my head they'd stick around a while, ready and waiting for me to pick them up.  I had big plans this weekend and they were invited.  I looked today for my favourite kind, the unwashed boggy ones with little stems hanging on.  But they weren't there.  At the next store I looked again and they told me they only had them frozen, I said I'd take what I could get.

A few weeks ago I had it in my head to make a cranberry cake, but I've been shunning sugar all that while.  I could resist no longer and today I pulled out my pan.  Instead of a large pan waiting to me to pick and slick I made a teeny tiny cake in a 6x3 inch pan.  It was super cute, which didn't help me keep my hands off it!  The cake I chose was an almond-cranberry coffee cake.  Because I divided it by 3.5 I messed up one ratio, and that was the amount of cranberries, as you can see.  There is more red cranberries falling out of these pictures than cake itself!  I love it of course, I can never have to many cranberries but the cake's stick-together-ness was totally compromised.  I've written the recipe to compensate, reduced from my 3/4 cup to a 1/2 cup of chopped cranberries, at least yours will be serve-able.

If you love cranberries and you love boterkoek (a dutch almond cake) you'll go head over heals for this one, I know I have!



Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake


Source: Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake
Serves: 3 or 4 for coffee

48 g (3.5 Tbsp) butter
85 g (7 Tbsp) white sugar
30 g (.6) egg (beat it first then measure roughly half)
1/3 tsp almond extract
51 g (1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp) all purpose flour
tiny pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped cranberries
2 1/2 Tbsp chopped almonds

In a glass bowl melt the butter in the microwave for 20 seconds.  Let it cool in the fridge while assembling other ingredients.

Chop the almonds roughly (or finely if you'd prefer) and keep about 1 tsp on the side, separate.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 6x3 inch loaf pan.  Set aside.  In a small bowl combine the flour and salt.  In a medium sized bowl beat the egg and sugar together with a hand held mixer, for two minutes, or until pale yellow and smooth.  Add the cooled butter and almond extract and blend until well combined.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, until just incorporated.  With a spatula fold in the cranberries and almonds.  Spoon and smooth into the pan.  Top with remaining almonds and about 1 tsp white sugar.  (Don't skip this step!  It makes a beautiful crackly layer.)

Bake in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool completely before slicing.