Cranberry Buckle

Cranberry Buckle

Text and Photo by Jac Kyles Baker 

Makes one 6 inch cake

Ingredients

1 cup fresh cranberries, washed and dried

2 TB unsalted butter, softened

2 TB vegetable oil

1/3 cup granulated sugar 

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup coconut crumble (recipe below)

Preparation

Butter a 6 inch round microwave safe pan.

Prepare cranberries:

Place cranberries in a large microwave safe bowl.  Cover.  Microwave on HIGH 1 minute.  You'll hear some cranberries pop.

Remove cranberries from microwave, stir 1 TB of sugar into cranberries.  Microwave cranberries on HIGH for 1 minute.  Carefully remove cranberries from microwave.  Set aside to cool.

Make cake:

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a large bowl.  

In a separate bowl: beat sugars, salt, oil and butter until light and creamy.  Stir in almond extract. Beat in egg.  

Make a well in the bottom of the flour bowl.  Add about a third of the liquid mixture to the well and stir in some of the flour.  Repeat until batter is smooth.  Stir in cooled cranberries.  Be careful not to over mix.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Top the batter with the coconut crumble, pressing gently into the batter.

Microwave on HIGH for a total of 2 minutes, checking the cake's progress after 1 minute.  Test doneness by sticking a toothpick into center of cake; a few crumbs should cling to toothpick.

Carefully remove pan from microwave.  Cool on wire rack for five minutes.  Remove cookie from pan and cool completely on rack.

Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Cook's Notes

Microwave power varies.  Adjust power and times accordingly.

Coconut Crumble

Ingredients

3 TB unsalted butter, softened

1 TB vegetable oil

2 TB packed light brown sugar

2 TB granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Preparation

Whisk butter, sugars and salt until smooth.  Add coconut.  Stir in flour.  Press into small crumbs with fingers.

Place crumb topping in freezer to set (minimum 15 minutes).  The butter in a freshly made crumb topping will melt and form a crust instead of a crumble.

Set aside until ready to use.  Crumb topping can be made ahead a stored in an airtight container.  Keep refrigerated.