Zoe Nathan's Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Cake

I don't think I ever thanked you all for your myriad suggestions on what to do with the mountain of ricotta spilling from my fridge. My goodness! There were so many great ideas. If it were up to me, I'd do nothing but test my way through that list. But I have a blog to uphold! A mission statement! And a waistline! Ultimately, a recipe was waiting just under my nose, in the LA Times' Culinary SOS column. A towering cranberry-orange-cornmeal cake that used Two Whole Cups of Ricotta. Why, I'd get rid of it all and then some! Sold.

(And suddenly, just like that, my desire to bake an apple pie for Thanksgiving was gone. Poof! Rather odd, really. I sort of thought pie baking urges were quite unshakeable. Shows you how much I know.)

This cake is a monster. Seriously, get the biggest bowl you have to mix it in. There is so much batter it will possibly swallow you whole. Of course, it's entirely worth it. First of all, cranberries and orange - yes, please. Secondly, cranberries, orange and cornmeal - um, I said yes PLEASE. Thirdly, all of that, plus ricotta? Good grief, give me the mixer already.

I used less ricotta than called for, less sugar, and less salt. The first two because it's all I had, the last because 2 1/4 teaspoons of salt just seemed excessive. The batter gets quite thick: this is actually one of those times when I wish I had a stand mixer. But my edits don't seem to have harmed this cake at all: in fact, I found it perfect.

You mix half of the fresh cranberries directly into that thick, rich batter, then spoon it into a baking pan (a 9-inch spring form was the best size, I found) and top it with the remaining cranberries and a flurry of granulated sugar. In the oven, the cake rises impressively and gets beautifully burnished, that top layer of sugar turning crunchy and irresistible in the heat. Cooled and turned out of its pan, the cake is simply gorgeous. Sweet and tart, moist and nicely textured from both the relative coarseness of the cornmeal and the fluff of the ricotta - it was a total hit. Ben's sister asked me for the recipe about five times.

We ate it with slightly sweetened whipped cream after our Thanksgiving meal and for breakfast every day after that, oh, and for tea and as a pre-dinner snack and, well, let's just say that a cake this size, even with 8 hungry people in the house, lasts longer than you'd expect.

Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Cake
Serves 18

2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 3/4  sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided (I used 1 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar, divided)
2 1/4 teaspoons salt (I used only 1 teaspoon)
Zest of 1 orange
2 cups ricotta cheese (I used 1 and 1/2 cups)
2 1/2 cups cranberries, divided

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round by 3-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter, 1 cup sugar, salt and zest. Mix just until thoroughly combined; do not overmix.

4. With the mixer running, slowly incorporate the egg mixture into the butter just until combined.

5. With the mixer on low speed, add one-half of the flour mixture to the batter and quickly mix for 5 seconds. Turn off the mixer and add the rest of the flour, the ricotta and one-half of the cranberries. Mix the remaining ingredients into the batter over low speed just until combined, being careful not to overmix.

6. Gently pour the batter into the cake pan and smooth the top. Scatter the remaining cranberries over the top of the cake, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

7. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Place a loose piece of foil over the top of the cake if it starts to darken. Cool the cake on a wire rack before removing it from the pan.

Comments

[radish]

Isn't this cake amazing? I made it a few weeks ago and want to recreate the magic - it was so good!!

[Adrienne]

You know, this looks wonderful. Exceeept... it's just me and one roommate. If I made this cake, maybe more people would miraculously show up at my house to eat it. Any chance it freezes well?

[Emily]

I would love to make these as gifts for Christmas, I think I might split the batter and bake smaller versions for less time!

[Lynne]

Oh this looks gorgeous. I have to try this. Although I'm not sure if it's easy to come by cranberries or cornmeal in the UK. Maybe I will try blueberries - because this really does look delicious.

[Isabelle]

This sounds sooo delicious. I may just have to make it for Christmas. Do you think using frozen cranberries would work? Or if not, where do you find fresh cranberries? I'm not sure I've ever seen them in a store or market.

[Luisa]

Adrienne - I think this cake would freeze beautifully. It's quite substantial.

Emily - great idea! Try splitting the batter between 2 8-inch cake pans.

Lynne - you'll find polenta for sure, right? You can use finely ground polenta (um, not pre-cooked). Blueberries would be nice here, but definitely use the amount of sugar I did, then. More sugar and sweeter berries might result in a very saccharine cake.

Isabelle - frozen cranberries would definitely work. Since cranberries are a seasonal berry, they're only available in these months right now here in the US, but they're everywhere: grocery stores, bodegas, etc.

[Tim]

Oh, wow. This looks so special. Can't wait to try it.

[Katharine]

Smells like Chrismas morning breakfast to me! Did you find that you missed the extra salt?

[Andrea Sarah]

This feels like a total ass of a comment, but I'm in that pre-move state where you just try to eat through everything in your cupboards without buying anything new, would it be horrible for me to substitute a package of cornbread mix for the cornmeal? I have some fresh cranberries rattling around in my fridge and just about everything else on hand and this just sounds so good. It also looks like a knock out to bring to a potluck annnnd I have a prefinals one coming up.

So, again, cornbread mix; how much of a sin would it be to use?

[Luisa]

Katharine - not at all, in fact, even with just 1 teaspoon, it very much had a presence. Not that the cake was salty, but it had a very nice balance. I can't really imagine using more than twice that amount.

Andrea - I know that state very well! The problem with a mix is that there are other ingredients in it, not just cornmeal. Sugar, salt, leaveners, etc. Why don't you simply make the cornbread using the mix, add in the cranberries, so at least the itch is scratched, and then promise yourself to bake this cake as a housewarming present when you're all settled in the new place?

[Anne]

This sounds amazing. I have a ton of leftover cranberry sauce. Do you think that might work as a substitute here for the whole cranberries?

[Kasey]

Mmm, this looks fantastic! I just tried adding cranberries to my go-to apple cake recipe and I am loving the combo of cornmeal, ricotta and cranberries. Genius! Must try.

[Luisa]

Anne - No... The berries are sort of each suspended in the batter, providing a nice burst of tartness.

[Lisa]

Beautiful shot! You're inspiring me to try it with some gluten-free flour...

[A Mouse Bouche]

Ooh i have all the ingredients I need for this in my kitchen already! that is, except for the ricotta.... isn't life ironic?

[Gemma]

This looks amazing, sounds like a great December option to add to the already excessive list!

[Erin @ The Skinny Gourmet]

Good gracious. Serves 18? You weren't kidding about the size. You've got me wondering if it could be halved and still produce a good finished product.

I have long loved the classic cranberry orange combination (who first came up with that? we should give out awards for that sort of genius), but I've never seen it combined in such an interesting way that is half cornbread, half cheesecake. Delicious!!

[Dawn in CA]

Oh my goodness. Cranbery. Orange. Cornmeal. CAKE?! I just ate lunch and I still want a slice of that.

[Luisa]

A Mouse Bouche - ha, that kind of made me laugh.

Erin - you could divide the batter into two pans and then freeze one of them if you didn't want the whole whopper at once. But I wouldn't mess with dividing the actual recipe, usually that messes with the proportions of ingredients a bit.

[c. kramer]

This looks great...do you suppose you could turn it into muffins? although now that I see my question typed out, the "serves 18 as a ginormous cake" is sort of flashing in my head with bold red letters and a siren...maybe it's best to stick with the original recipe, huh?

[Sues]

I just learned how to make fresh ricotta and now I have something fabulous to do with it. And I love cooking/baking with Cranberries, so this looks perfect :)

[abby]

How long do you think this keeps? I'm having company on Thursday evening and want to try to get as much done ahead of time as possible. I could make it today (Sunday) and keep it in the fridge, make it today and freeze it or make it on Tues or Weds. Thoughts? I'm having so much trouble timing everything out so I'm not doing everything on Wednesday night!

[Luisa]

Abby - it will keep for at least three to four days. I made this on a Wednesday night, served it on Thursday, and we were still eating pieces of it on Saturday.

[abby]

Thanks Luisa!

[Kelley]

I made this for a work potluck and people loved it. They requested the recipe. They could not believe it was homemade. I felt proud. I had not even tried it myself yet, and when I did, I was so happy! Thanks for this recipe.

[lisa (dandysugar)]

This cake looks delicious. All things that I love....cranberry, orange, ricotta and cornmeal.
Rustic and beautiful.

[Anna]

This is gorgeous and, actually, the exact thing I was looking for, for those Winter potlucks. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

Since this is the first time I've commented here, I should also say you have a beautiful blog and would be honored if you would check out my up and coming blog: dautherofabaker.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays!

[Victoria]

Looks so good! It's going on my Christmas list!

[Nadia]

Sorry this is off topic, Wednesday Chef, but have you ever made Certosino, or is it the kind of thing people only buy ready-baked, even in Italy? I stumbled across this Nigella recipe online and wondered, what are my chances of success?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2000/dec/17/houseandgarden.features

[Caroline]

YUM! I always like to have a few high-yield recipes in my repertoire.

[susan]

this cake is delish! i made it with lemon zest instead of orange since that is what i had on hand. my concern of too much tartness was completely unfounded - it was terrific.

[SlyGly]

I made it, and it's fabulous! I will try using lime zest next time.

[Candice]

Have you made this with commercial ricotta?

[Candice]

Have you made this with commercial ricotta?

[Luisa]

Candice - sure have... that is all I had in the fridge.

[Christina]

I know this is random, since it's so late, but I wanted to say that I made this cake for Christmas and everyone loved it! Thanks for the recipe, it's a keeper.

[Joy]

I made two of them for Thanksgiving and froze one for later. It tasted better after being frozen and thawed. Loved the cake!