Quick Cranberry Sauce and Cranberry Shortbread Cake
We are in full Thanksgiving mode at Oven Love this week! Yesterday, we got you set with your turkey. Today, I want to address the cranberry situation. For some people, cranberries are a must; for others, they’re no big deal. I like to have them around just in case, but that means sometimes I have leftovers. So I’m bringing you a simple cranberry sauce and a sweet way to re-purpose what’s left.
It doesn’t take much more effort to put this sauce together than it does to open the canned version. All you need is water, sugar, fresh (or frozen if need-be) cranberries and an orange. You can even do without the orange if you forgot to grab one at the store. If you’re feeling fancy, go ahead and throw in a cinnamon stick, switch out the OJ for some pomegranate juice, go ahead and get crazy with whatever you’ve got in the kitchen. Let it bubble away for a bit and you’re set. You can serve it hot, cold, or room temperature, and you can make it ahead or leave it to the last minute. Talk about flexible!
Fast forward to the end of the meal. You’ve got more cranberries left than you thought you would. I think the best way to use them is to make them into this shortbread cake. The dough comes together in minutes, takes a little time to set up in the fridge, then you roll out the two layers or press them into a springform pan with the cranberries and in 35 minutes, you’ve got dessert. You could even get away with serving it at breakfast with a little yogurt or snack time with coffee or tea. I prefer it with some vanilla bean ice cream.. but that’s just me. It’s really a no-fuss recipe, and you can replicate it with any fruit sauce, sweet chutney or jam.
We’re getting closer and closer to Thursday. I won’t be able to post up all of the Thanksgiving staples, so if you have any Thanksgiving questions or recipe requests, please comment here or send me an email at ovenloveblog@gmail.com. I’ll be answering your questions all week on Facebook. And there are no dumb questions, seriously!
Quick Cranberry Sauce
by Oven Love, adapted from Ocean Spray (they know what they’re talking about!)
makes 2-2 1/2 cups
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice (preferably fresh, but whatever you have is great. If you don’t have any, just substitute water)
1 cup sugar
1 12oz bag fresh cranberries
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
Bring water, orange juice if using and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Add cranberries and sugar and bring back to a boil. Reduce and cook until berries burst, about 10-15 minutes. Serve warm, room temperature or cold.
Cranberry Shortbread Cake
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours
1-2 cups leftover Quick Cranberry Sauce (the above recipe makes about 2-2 1/2 cups. I prefer my cake to have closer to 1 cup of berries, but if you like it tart, keep it closer to 2 cups.)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus more for dusting
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a stand mixer, beat butter until soft. Add 1 cup sugar and beat until dissolved. Add the egg and yolk, followed by the vanilla until the disappear into the mixture. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined; finish by hand if necessary. You’ll have a thick mixture, almost like a pie crust.
Split the mixture into two flattened disks and wrap with plastic. Let rest in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes (or up to overnight, just bring it up to room temp the next day).
While the mixture is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 and lightly butter a 9 inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet. When the dough is ready, roll each disk out into a 9 inch circle. Press the first disk into the bottom of the pan, making sure to seal the cracks with your fingers. Spread the cranberry sauce in an even layer across the dough. Lift the second dough circle onto the cranberry layer and use your fingers to make sure it covers the filling. Brush the top with water and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cake is just lightly golden and a knife comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then unmold and let cool to room temperature before slicing.
That shortbread cake looks phenomenal! Does it ship well? 😉
YES! Last Thanksgiving we had SO much cranberry relish left over that I had no idea what to do with. I ended up putting it on bagels and just eating it out of the bowl. This year I was going to make it into something, so this is perfect. I think I may try making the shortbread ahead of time. Absolutely perfect timing!
Fabulous way to use up leftover cranberry sauce. Yummy.
I already made the cranberry sauce and I can’t stop eating it. So simple and sooooo delicious !!!
I love cranberries–this is one excellent dessert! We really enjoyed it.
The cranberry shortcake was fabulous…I think I ate a piece almost everyday I was there. Yummy