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

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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.

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9 Responses to “Puppy Chow”

  1. #
    1
    Erin — December 30, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    I loooove this stuff. I’ve always called it Muddy Buddy, though.

  2. #
    2
    Jeanette — December 30, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    I made this as treats to the humans from our 2 dogs. My mom fell in love with it and went out right away and bought the ingredients. Merry Christmas.

  3. #
    3
    laurasrecipecollection — December 31, 2009 at 2:05 am

    Everyone always raves about this stuff but I confess: I’ve never had it! I was allergic to peanuts during childhood 🙁
    But it looks so good that I think I need to give it a try now!

  4. #
    4
    BeeKayRoot — December 31, 2009 at 3:45 am

    This stuff is sooo good. I’ve never made it myself, but have had it several times. Perhaps I’ll make it sometime soon.

  5. #
    5
    Joy — January 7, 2010 at 9:14 pm

    One of my college roommates made this for us, and I’ve been in love with them since! We usually use Crispix, though, which is rice and corn. =)

  6. #
    6
    Julie — January 12, 2010 at 2:31 pm

    We love that stuff too! We make it for our friends all the time and they can’t stop eating it.

    Like Joy said, we use Crispix too.

  7. #
    7
    Tran — February 17, 2010 at 4:49 pm

    Why is this called Puppy Chow mix? At first I thought it was for dogs and was alarmed by the chocolate chips in the ingredients…

  8. #
    8
    Jen — February 17, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    No idea why it’s called Puppy Chow… That’s just what we always called it…

  9. #
    9
    PUSTULED — February 17, 2022 at 8:32 am

    They’ll promise you a job , however end up taking your money or personal information.

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