Cranberry Apple Upside Down Cake

I had pie for breakfast. We played in the rain with our tiny tot. The Hubs and I had boozy coffee this afternoon. We did NOT go to a mall. Though totally soggy outside, it was a great day! Thanksgiving is my all-time fave holiday and luckily my work loves to celebrate! I made this Cranberry Apple Upside Down Cake for our Pre-Thanksgiving Warm Up Potluck. I'd been thinking about making something like this for a while - I adapted this cake recipe and experimented with the rest. It was really tasty and really pretty! Good combo for a potluck!

Cranberry Apple Upside Down Cake
Makes one 9" cake 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped apples
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Prep a 9 inch cake pan by buttering and flouring bottom and sides. Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom, and butter that. 

Toss chopped apples and cranberries with brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside while batter is made.

In a large bowl, cream butter and white sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Alternately mix in sour cream and then dry ingredients into the butter mixture until both are used up and the batter is smooth (it will be thick.)

Pour apples and cranberry mixture over parchment in the bottom of the cake pan. Arrange the fruit so it's evenly distributed.

Pour cake batter over the fruit and smooth out - it's OK if the batter is not totally to the edges and a bit uneven... this will be the bottom of the cake anyway. How nice is that?!

Bake 35-40 minutes and check for doneness with a wooden skewer. The skewer should come out clean, with a few moist crumbs stuck to it. 

Let the cake cool on a wire rack until it's room temp. Invert over a cake stand and peel off the parchment. The fruit will be soft and beautiful! 

I dolloped a bit of whipped cream on top, because that's always a good idea. 

Some things about this recipe...
I've now made this cake twice - we like it that much! The cake is not super sweet, so I will be taking it to the next brunch we are invited to (hey! want this cake? Invite me to a brunch!)
I think this would be great with other kinds of hearty fruits - cherries would be amazing! Plums, apricots, or nectarines sound good too. 
Also, I might add a bit of orange zest to the cake the next time I make this. Just to make things even more special. 

Enjoy!

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