cranberry duff

Saturday, November 3, 2012 |
When I held a Canadian Thanksgiving party in October, I stocked up on all the fall food essentials at Costco, where you can’t help but buy in bulk.  That’s how I ended up with a five-pound bag of cranberries.   I made cranberry sauce and Cape Cod October Pie, but still had many cranberries left over.  I stuck them in the freezer, and now I have the impetus to try all those cranberry recipes I’ve stockpiled.  This Cranberry Duff seemed like a good place to start (and for your information, the dictionary defines duff as a ‘stiff pudding’ – but this is more like an upside down cake).


Cranberry Duff (modified from this Martha Stewart recipe)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, (1 stick), softened
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish using 2 tablespoons butter (reserve rest for recipe). Spread cranberries evenly over bottom of dish, then sprinkle walnuts on top.  Cover with 1/3 cup sugar; set aside.

Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a microwave-safe bowl or in saucepan over the stove; set aside. Place egg and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium-size bowl. Beat with electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and thick, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually beat in flour, then salt. Pour in melted butter in a steady stream, beating until smooth.


Pour (or in my case, ladle) batter into pan to cover cranberries. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour. Let cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen, and invert to unmold onto a serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Yields 6 servings.

The first thing I should tell you is that this smells divine while baking, and you’ll be tempted to take it out of the oven and eat it early.  Resist!  Golden brown and thoroughly baked is the way to go. The second thing is that if the finished dessert is resisting your attempts to get it out of the baking dish, give up and serve like brownies.  Or, you know... end up with a mess (I may have learned this the hard way).  No matter what it will be delicious, though, so don't worry: happiness guaranteed.


Recommended for: when you’re inspired to bake on a fall day, an unusual take on the upside down cake, and a sweet and tart treat that goes beautifully with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea.

Interested in other food-related posts?  Check out Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking.

23 comments:

JoAnn said...

I've never heard of a 'duff' before, so thanks for including the definition... it does look like an upside down cake though. Will definitely give it a try during this cranberry season!

Liviania said...

Mmm, that looks so good.

Oddly, the local Walmart tends to have better cranberries than the grocery store.

Perhaps by 'stiff pudding' the book meant the Queen's English definition of pudding?

caite said...

duffs and crumbles and cobblers...Is there a real difference, I wonder, between them all.

Melanie said...

Duff.. that kind of strikes me as a funny word. :)

I'm not too fond of cranberries myself, but I have to admit this looks good!

Beth F said...

I haven't heard the term duff either, but it looks like an upside down cake to me. LOL. And it looks easy and really pretty. I have cranberries in my freezer too. Hummm.

Laurie C said...

Yum! I think I would like the Cape Cod October pie even more, but this recipe sounds a lot simpler!

sRy_ said...

I would like it just now ^^

(Diane) bookchickdi said...

Erin McHugh has a similar recipe in her book One Good Deed. This looks so delicious, I must make this soon.

Carole said...

Yum, love cranberries. I have heard of plum duff before. Have a good week.

jama said...

*drooling*

Have never heard the term, "duff" before. I love cranberries and this recipe looks easy and so yummy. Thanks!

Tales of Whimsy said...

Awesome! I'm drooling too!

Patty said...

I just love the sweet and sour taste in desserts, so I've already pinned this recipe!

Tanya Patrice said...

This looks delicious - did you use fresh or canned cranberries?

Esme said...

thank you for sharing-I like anything cranberry-have you ever made Starbucks cranberry bars?

Cecelia said...

caite: I don't think there is any difference!

Tanya Patrice: I used fresh frozen (I bought the bag fresh, then put them in the freezer) - and I didn't thaw before using them in the recipe.

Esme: No, I've never made or eaten the Starbucks bars. Sounds like they're yummy!

Kristen M. said...

I am TOTALLY going to make this for Thanksgiving except I'll have to sub pecans or almonds because I'm mildly allergic to walnuts. A little orange rind might be yummy in this too!

Uniflame said...

This is making me so hungry! Luckily I am going to do some baking myself today :)

Esme said...

Cecilia,

I know what you mean-I was in trial for 3 months and it gets exhausting-I debated if I wanted to commit to one more obligation but work should be at a moderate pace.

Where in Canada are you-I am from Ottawa originally.

Joy Weese Moll said...

Duff is a new term to me, too. Maybe it's upside down cake that refuses to come out neatly? If the pictures you are showing are the "mess," it's still beautiful!

Becky said...

Oh my goodness! This looks so good. I will definitely have to try this out, especially for Thanksgiving around the corner.

Cecelia said...

Esme: I'm not actually from Canada, but I had a Canadian friend I wanted to celebrate the day, so I made it into a big get-together. Very fun! And now I'm ready for American Thanksgiving pie-making.

Kristin said...

This looks incredible! I've had such a craving for cranberries lately, but I can never think of ways to use them in cooking. Thank you!

H D Wallpaper said...

nice blog realy nice :)

Newer Posts Older Posts Home