Fresh Cranberry Scones

I still had some fresh cranberries in the freezer leftover from the holidays. Now they are in these scones, which are really easy, flavorful and smell like Christmas is coming all over again.

The recipe includes a rum glaze - I would go for that in a brunch scone, but it doesn't seem like the right fit for a weekday breakfast scone. I'm opting for butter and honey instead.

Fresh Cranberry Scones

Recipe from the Kitchn

Makes 12 to 18 scones, depending on size (I made pretty huge ones and I got about 9...)

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 small orange or clementine, zested
2 1/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup milk
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling, optional

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

This is Alice Water's recipe that I got from the blog Lottie + Doof. I first had this at my friend, Rachel's house and have been wanting to make it ever since. The beauty of this dish is that you can make it in a cast iron skillet. It's also really easy to make adjustments to this cake, say, to make it gluten free.
This post will be about the Tet holiday (or the Lunar New Year) in Vietnam. We got a 2 week break from work to spend with my family. This is the time when you go home to visit your family if you live far away. A good chunk of the population of Saigon is from the countryside. It's a calmer time for the city since pretty much all the shops are closed. Tet lasts for 5 days officially and during this time, people are going in and out of each other's houses to visit and best of all, eat. We've been eating so much these last few weeks. I've met so many cousins that I didn't even know I had. There's an incredible sense of community here that is refreshing. So many people have invited us into their homes and shared food with us. I would say about 100+ people have come to my grandparent's house to wish them good health and bring them gifts. By the way, they market oreos and ritz crackers as luxury goods here so those were some gifts that I ate. We handed out lucky money in red envelopes to the little kiddies. They have to wish us a happy and prosperous year before they get the dollars though.
The last 3 days, we got to spend at the beach in my dad's old hometown (Mui Ne). It's a beautiful fishing village that is filled with Russian tourists. We stayed at a resort with some cousins and friends and had a blast. Lots of seafood, sunshine, and playing with my little cousins. Now, back to the recipe!

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 3/4 cups fresh cranberries
1/4 cup apple cider
2 eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/2 cup almond milk
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F. Make sure everything is at room temperature!
In an 9-inch cast-iron skillet, cook 4 tablespoons butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture starts to bubble and is fragrant. This doesn't take long. Turn off heat and let skillet cool down.
In a separate saucepan, cook the cranberries and apple cider until the cranberries just start to pop for about 5 minutes. You will notice the skin of the cranberries splitting and the insides literally popping out. Pour the mixture over the cooled caramel.
In a mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.
In a bowl, beat the remaining 8 tablespoons butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the two egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in vanilla extract. When mixed well. add the flour mixture alternately with the almond milk, starting and ending with one third of the flour. Stir just until no streaks of flour can be seen. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Fold one third of the egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula, and then gently fold in the rest.
Pour the batter over the cranberries in the pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is really golden brown and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. You want a toothpick to be able to be removed from the center cleanly. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate.
This cake is great served by itself.

Cranberry Apple Tart

Before you make this tart, I just have to warn you-- it's amazing and it'll be gone before you know it! Also don't heat it up before serving. Hehe. I served it at Thanksgiving dinner for my cousin Julian's birthday and it turned into mush. Still delicious though. The recipe is from My New Roots!!! Oh and SURPRISE it's vegan and gluten free! 

For the crust:

1 cup rolled oats 

1/2 cup pecans

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp. vanilla 

1/2 tsp sea salt

75 g whole buckwheat flour (scant 1/2 cup)

For the filling:

1 apple, sliced thin

2 cups fresh cranberries

1/2 cup maple syrup 

2 Tbsp. chia seeds

6 Tbsp. orange juice 

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cardamom

zest of 1 orange

Orange & Cranberry Pound Cake

This is another example of how I can have really good intentions of making something for a particular reason or to give to someone, but then time after time what actually happens is I start eating it right away. I was going to save this for Thanksgiving, but instead we'll probably eat all of it by Thursday.

ORANGE & CRANBERRY POUND CAKE

Adapted from Joy the Baker's Chocolate Orange Cream Cheese Pound Cake

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp orange zest (I used the zest from 1 large orange)

8 oz cream cheese (1 package), softened

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temp

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup fresh cranberries

Cranberry Maple Cornbread

Last winter I learned how amazing fresh cranberries are for baking - I made those crumb bars and Michelle made great blondies. However, I didn't start using them until the very end of their season! 

This is the second time I've made this amazing skillet cornbread this month. I love cornbread, and this recipe, from Cookie + Kate, is my new favorite.

Today I've been watching Frontier House, one of those PBS series where families "go back in time" and live as authentically as possible in a certain time period. They use cast iron skillets! You can make this cornbread in a normal baking dish as well, though. My directions are written for baking it in a skillet, but you could easily adapt it for a baking dish. Speaking of adapting, this is the cornbread recipe I'll be using for future adaptations!

Frontier House!!

CRANBERRY MAPLE CORNBREAD

Slightly adapted from Cookie + Kate

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp coarse salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
2 tbsp sugar (normal or turbinado) to top, optional

Cranberry, Apricot, and White Chocolate Blondies

Laura, Brittany, and I picked up this reciped during the cookie tour. We didn't get to try these bars since Jay Design Studios (who got the recipe from the Cookie Bible) ran out, but I knew I had to make them! I ended up finally getting the apricots later in the week and making them just in time for girl dinner. They were a success. The flavors worked together perfectly. I used the leftover fresh cranberries from making Laura's cranberry crumb bars.

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 2/3 cups white chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup apple cider or orange juice (I used apple cider)
1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Grease a 9 inch baking pan and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. I used Brittany's gorgeous Le Creuset pan. That pan has seen so many great desserts.
Anyways, stir in 1 cup of white chocolate chips into the melted butter and let sit for 1 minute. Stir until chips are melted.
Beat eggs in a separate, large bowl until foamy. Add granulated sugar and beat until pale yellow. Add flour, juice, melted chips, and stir until just combined.

Spread half of this batter into the pan. Bake for 15 minutes until the crust is just lightly browned at the edges.
Take out of the oven. Mix cranberries, apricots, and the rest of the chocolate chips into the remaining batter.

Spread over the hot baked mixture.
Sprinkle the nuts and the brown sugar on top of this mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes more until the edges are lightly brown. Cool and then cut into bars and enjoy!

Spiced Cranberry-Orange Oatmeal Crumb Bars

I'm starting to feel very Christmasy since I watched Frosty the Snowman the other day with the daycare kids (the whole thing is on YouTube!), and so I wanted to bake something with cranberries and oranges. My grandma always makes a cranberry and orange relish for Christmas and Thanksgiving, so this can be the baking equivalent. 

They are so pretty and SO tasty. The flavor of the cranberry filling is very strong and very amazing. The crumb part is spiced with mulling spices for extra Christmasy-ness.

Spiced Cranberry-Orange Oatmeal Crumb Bars

Adapted from this recipe by the Smitten Kitchen, posted on Lottie + Doof

Crumb base & topping:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, plus more at room temperature for the pan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1 large egg
(add for top layer) 1/2 cup oats

Cranberry filling:

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice

2 cups fresh cranberries

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 tablespoon cornstarch

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, and butter the sides and the parchment. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices. With a pastry blender or fork, work the chilled butter  and the egg into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Pat half the crumb base into the bottom of your prepared pan; it will be thin.

3. In the bowl of a food processor or blender, briefly pulse the filling ingredients until the berries are coarsely chopped but not pureed. Spread the filling over the crumb base. Add the oatmeal into the remaining half of crumb topping. Sprinkle the rest of the crumbs evenly over the cranberry mixture.

4. Bake cookies for 30 to 35 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool completely before cutting into squares.