Culinary Cookbook: Cranberry Pecan Cake

Greetings,

Many thanks to you for all of your hard work and determination! Because of you, Homecoming and other events this semester have been a success and that would not have been possible without you! With the completion of all those planned events behind us, it’s now time to begin looking towards preparing for the upcoming holiday season.

I know many of you may actually look forward to all the upcoming festivities and gatherings and then there are some who are ready to get it over with. At any rate, over the next couple months you may be required, invited or suggested by some to do the holiday “entertaining”. What do you do when you are placed in this situation? Plan, Organize and Execute your event with crowd pleasing favorites that will have them looking towards another “invite” from you.

Holiday crowd-pleasing flair can be as simple as a bite-size snack, hors d’oeuvre or a grand meal. There is an old acronym that suggest; however you choose to proceed with planning for your “crowd-pleasers” event, remember to ”K.I.S.S.” it. Without offense, that simply means to “Keep It Satisfyingly Simple”.

Have a safe and blessed holiday season!

Chef Mary

Cranberry-Pecan Cake

1 cup All-purpose flour 1 ½ T Unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ tsp Baking Powder ¼ cup Evaporated Milk

½ tsp Salt ¼ cup Water

½ cup Granulated Sugar 1 cup of Fresh or Frozen cranberries (if using frozen do not defrost)

½ cup Pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, grease an 8 in cake pan.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place the sugar in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter, moistening all the sugar. Stir in the milk and water, then flour mixture until incorporated. Fold in the cranberries and pecans and spread into cake pan. Smooth out the batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Hard Sauce

¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup Sugar

½ cup Evaporated Milk

1 tsp Vanilla extract

2 T Cognac or Brandy (optional)

In a small sauce pan over low heat, melt butter and add sugar. Add milk and bring to a boil, beating the sauce all the while. Add the vanilla and stir in the Cognac or Brandy if desired. Drizzle over warm cake.

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