Cranberry Sauce Nut Cake

I believe that most people probably have leftover cranberry sauce from the Thanksgiving day feast. Now some folks buy their cranberry sauce in a can. That's ok. Convenient. But, if you do, I think the chunky whole cranberry kind is much better. I admit I've bought it before. Well, before I discovered years ago how easy it is to make yourself from fresh whole cranberries. It doesn't long, is not labor intensive, and I'd suggest you make more than you know you'll eat because you'll want to make this cranberry sauce nut cake the next day!

OK, to make your own cranberry sauce, it's really simple. Just put about two to three cups of fresh cranberries in a pot, add about 1 1/2 cups of orange juice or pineapple orange juice and one-fourth teaspoon of sea salt. Bring it to a boil for about 10 to 15 minutes. Those berries will start popping open and become even more beautiful. Then you need to sweetened them because cranberries, as we know, are might tart and bitter otherwise. I add either sugar and/or maybe some orange marmalade. Of course, this is to taste, but I'd start with at least a third of a cup of sugar. Sounds like a lot, but keep tasting it until you get it to your desired sweetness level. I like to err on the side of less sweet since I know I'm going to be using some of the leftover in a cranberry nut cake the next day. Cook them another 20 minutes on medium until the sauce starts to reduce and thicken. Here's another recipe for a sauce I created, Cognac Cranberries & Tangerines. You could certainly make this recipe. Make a little more. And, it would be aahhhhhmazing in this cake!

When you bite into this moist nutty cake, you'll get a distinct, albeit not overwhelming, subtle cranberry tartness flavor. It's really palatable because the sweetness of the cake mix itself is enough to balance out the contrast. This cranberry sauce nut cake is almost like a pound cake and will keep for several day when covered tightly. If I have more cranberry sauce, I'll dollop it on slices served. It's another unexpected treasure and pleasure. Of course, there's always ice cream, whipped cream. butterscotch sauce...whatever you like!