{TWD} Cranberry Shortbread Cake

After nearly two and a half years of baking weekly from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking From My Home to Yours, one would think - really, one would know by now - that the book is filled with surprises. There are the recipes that sound improbable but turn out to be wonderful. And then there are recipes that somehow escape notice, even though I have read and re-read the book, have gone through it page-by-page, and have studied both the table of contents and the index. This week's recipe for the baking group Tuesdays With Dorie is one of those sleepers. Until my very good baking buddy Jessica, of Singleton in the Kitchen, chose the Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake I didn't even know it was in the book.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Jessica will have the recipe on her site today.

- This is one of those fabulously versatile recipes; it is two layers of buttery shortbread-like cake, with a filling of cranberry "jam" that can be whipped up on the stove top in minutes. But the cake filling could also varied to suit the season or your mood; so it could be sauteed cinnamon apples, or any kind of jam that you fancy and/or have in the pantry. I was excited to make the first cranberry dessert of the season, so I went that route.

- In making the filling, I used the minimum amount of sugar Dorie specified, since she said to add more if it was too tart. But even with the smallest amount of sugar the filling was too sweet for me, so I added some lime juice, which helped, although it was still on the sweet side.

- I made 2/3 recipe in fluted deep tart pan rather than a springform pan. I didn't roll the dough quite big enough for the pan, so ended up spreading the dough with my fingers. I was worried that it would look patched and rough, but as it baked the cake rose and filled in all the little gaps in the dough. A little powdered sugar on top when it was cool and none the wiser!

- It was difficult for me to gauge the done-ness of the cake. The knife was fairly clean from early on in the baking time. I ended up waiting for the cake to be golden on top but at the same time not look dried out.


the verdict:

There was a split of opinion when I served this this cake. Not on the general merits of the recipe; everyone who ate the cake loved it. The real question was whether the cranberry jam filling was tart enough. One of my tasters, JT, and I thought "no, too sweet," daughter JDE, through puckered mouth, said it was plenty tart, thank you. Hubs was so busy helping himself to a third piece that he wasn't quibbling over the finer points.

The shortbread layers were wonderful, buttery, and just sweet enough. The cranberry jam was fun to make, and provided a nice tart counterpoint to the sweetness of the cake.

If you are not wed to pie on Thanksgiving (we definitely are) then this would be a great addition to the dessert table. It is absolutely festive in appearance, and wonderfully seasonal in flavor.

As for me, I plan to serve this as part of our Christmas celebration, probably with the beautiful red cranberry jam again. I also am dying to try some other versions of this cake, using different flavors of jam. I'm most excited about the prospect of using citrus marmalade; I think it will be the perfect sweet/tart combination.