Pumpkin Cranberry Pecan Upside Down Cake
This week is one of my favorite weeks of the year. Thanksgiving is all about the food. And football. And family. And friends. It doesn’t get much better than that.
This cake can make Thanksgiving even better for you. I made this the other night and I had to literally put it away so I wouldn’t eat the whole thing. It’s absolutely amazing. It combines all my favorite Thanksgiving flavors with the pumpkin cake topped with a caramel/pecan/cranberry topping. And it is one of the easiest desserts to make ever. If you need a dessert for Thanksgiving, definitely give this a shot.
We loved it so much I will be making it again. Twice in one week. I never repeat recipes, let alone in the same week. Seriously, it’s that good.
One Year Ago: Thanksgiving Two-Fer Bars and NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Two Years Ago: Oreo Brownies and Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Pumpkin Cranberry Pecan Upside Down Cake
Yield: 8-10
Ingredients:
8 ounces (2 sticks or 16 Tbsp) unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups cranberries
4 ounces (1 cup) coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line the bottom of a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper.
Melt the butter in a small saucepot over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and whisk until smooth.
Pour the brown sugar mixture into the bottom of the cake pan.
In a medium bowl combine the cranberries and pecans. Place them in the pan over the brown sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree and oil.
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Carefully spread the batter over the cranberry pecan topping.
Bake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.
Cool the cake for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Place a large plate or platter on top of the cake. Invert the cake and plate together. Remove the pan. Carefully peel off the parchment paper.
Recipe from Martha Stewart
I’m using this cake as my monthly What’s Baking challenge. Be sure to check out Catherine’s blog for the roundup later this month.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I am intrigued! I like Oreos and Doritos separately, so I will have to give this popcorn a try. My three-year-old is King of Interesting Combinations, so I know I’ll have a buddy to share it with. 🙂
beantownbaker — January 30th, 2013 @ 12:12 pm
Hubby definitely kind of gave me a weird look when I was chowing down on this 😉
no way! i just posted some doritos chocolate chip cookies on my blog! love the chocolate/dorito combo! this looks super delish 🙂
beantownbaker — January 31st, 2013 @ 1:59 pm
That is crazy! I bet Doritos in cookies is amazing!
Love this idea! Definitely going to try it soon. I am also thinking Sun Chips would be an awesome part of the combination
this is weird… I like it.
beantownbaker — February 3rd, 2013 @ 9:47 pm
weird? absolutely. delicous? for sure 😉
What an interesting combo. I always did popcorn, Sourpatch Kids, and Raisinets at the movies, so I can see how this would work.
beantownbaker — February 3rd, 2013 @ 9:47 pm
Woah – now that’s an interesting combination. I like all of those things separately. I’m going to have to try them all together the next time I go to a movie.
This sounds amazing. i should admit that i am 37 weeks pregnant and have eaten a ton of oreos and doritos this pregnancy, why oh why didn’t i think to put them together!!! thank you!!!!
beantownbaker — February 3rd, 2013 @ 9:46 pm
Haha, glad I gave you the idea. Hope you like them together 😉
This combination is crazy, but that just means I am going to have to go home and try it. This could totally hit the spot I am sure 🙂
beantownbaker — February 6th, 2013 @ 11:43 am
Let me know what you think if you do try it
I happen to think this sounds perfect, and not at all strange. But i’m the girl that likes to eat dortitos inside my PB&J sandwiches, and dip french fries in milkshakes…..so to me this makes sense! I’ll have to give it a try – thanks for posting!
beantownbaker — February 7th, 2013 @ 6:20 pm
OMG I totally forgot about Doritos inside a PB&J!! I used to do that too. MMmmm.
OK this is totally weird, but I would totally eat it. Talk about a junk food dream!
beantownbaker — February 7th, 2013 @ 6:18 pm
It’s totally a junk food dream 🙂