Baking Bliss

Cranberry orange cornmeal cake

First of all, is this cake sublime or what? It makes me happy to look at these pics.

Happy is good. I’ve been having a doozy of a week, and yesterday’s whippy, rainy weather wasn’t bringing on the holiday cheer. The previous night was awful. I was at an event mingling with well-known food folks when I noticed a guy standing three feet away from me wearing the exact same shirt owned by my ex. Within seconds tears sprang to my eyes, and I blearily made my way to the bathroom. It took a few minutes to pull myself together but eventually I made it back to the crowd. A friend noticed my puffy red eyes and giggled.

Why are you laughing at me? I’m suffering here! 

You have bits of toilet paper stuck to your eyelids. It’s so cute! 

Blech…time to make a cake.

Not many folks want to end a long workday (which began at 7am sharp with a personal trainer kicking my ass) by baking a cake, but I find it incredibly relaxing. Plus, I fell off the Thanksgiving wagon this year and made non-traditional dishes much to my dismay. I’m a sucker for nostalgia and tradition so I really missed the turkey with the works. To recapture some of the Thanksgiving spirit, I decided on a big beautiful cake studded with cranberries. I also wanted a sturdy cake that would last for a few days, the flavors developing and improving over time. I’m playing both hostess and dinner guest now through the weekend and hoped that one dessert would do the trick.

I found this recipe at LATimes.com. It has cornmeal, orange zest and a surprise element in the ricotta cheese. I made it in my bundt pan because it looks so pretty and festive. It’s a BIG, heavenly cake: moist, not too sweet, surprisingly light, and quick to fancy up with a dollop of whipped cream.

The cake looked so pretty in the morning light