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. 
Good luck with the storm. Be safe, glad to read you turned around and went home thinking about the end of the day!
I think if I was still in New York state I’d be baking up a storm to prepare for the Sandy Blizzard myself. Here in Alabama we can only hope for the best for you all on the shorelines up there!
Thanks. So far so good where I live. We haven’t list power yet, so that’s good!
I’m the same way with snacks at home! Once I get some in my hand, it’s over! These would definitely disappear rather quickly in our house, too =)
beantownbaker — March 6th, 2013 @ 8:38 pm
Glad to hear I’m not the only one like that!
I have tried a couple different recipes for the beloved hone mustard pretzels but to no avail…they always remain kind of “sticky”, so I am eager to try yours but I think they too will be sticky….are they?Why can’t you find the honey mustard pretzels anymore except in small bags????
beantownbaker — March 8th, 2014 @ 1:14 pm
I agree. They were a bit sticky the next day. But the first day, they weren’t. If they are when you take them out, just toss them and bake a little while longer.
The pretzels were very soft and nasty. I was hoping they were going to be like the Hanover Honey Mustard pretzels but are not at all. They don’t have a lot of flavor and the kids didn’t like that they were soft. I would not make them again.