Cranberry Nut Cake, Gluten Free Cranberry Nut (Pecan) Cake Recipe, Cheater's Version

Delicious Cranberry Nut Cake!

A couple weeks ago when our grandson was staying the week, we went to Carla's (of The River Flowing Blog fame) so that he could meet her two boys. They are such nice, intelligent, and fun  young men!  I had a hard time dragging our grandson away, believe me.

Well...

While we were there, Carla gave us some Cranberry Nut Cake, which, it turns out, is her younger son's favorite cake. Hmmm.  I took a bite of that cake....

I think it is now my favorite too. At the very least, it's a tie between this and my Williamsburg Orange Cake.

Fresh cranberries, a gift from Carla!

Anyway, please urge Carla to post the recipe for her delicious Cranberry Nut Cake. I decided to try to make it gluten free, but then ran short on time, not to mention my natural bent toward laziness, and went with Hodgson Mill yellow cake mixes instead.

Gluten free cake mix manufacturers have it all figured out that if they put the amount necessary to make a 13x9 cake in their box, you'd never pay what they're going to charge for it. So, they put just enough to make an 8x8 or 16 cupcakes. That will certainly not do. Who wants just a mere taste? So I bought two of them and realized that I could then make a 13x9 and have enough batter left over to make 3 mini cakes. So that's what I did.

Chopped Fresh Cranberries

Gluten Free Cranberry Nut (Pecan) Cake Recipe:  (cheaters' version)

Makes one 13x9 and 3 mini cakes (2x5 cakes, appx.)

Two boxes of Hodgson Mill Yellow Cake Mix

1 c. butter, softened

4 large eggs

2 c. buttermilk

    OR, if you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute 3 T. white vinegar and enough whole milk to make 2 cups. Wait 15 minutes. (Emeril's recipe)

2 t. vanilla extract

1 t. almond extract

(The boxes got pitched, but I'm pretty sure that the ingredients listed above are simply what was listed on the box, times two.) The following ingredients were included because Carla had fresh cranberries and pecans in her cake and that makes all the difference!)

2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, chopped (pulsed in the food processor and tossed with 1/4 c. sugar)

2/3 c. chopped pecans  

In your mixing bowl, whip the butter. Add cake mixes and mix until well mixed. (Good grief, there's got to be a better way to write that!)

Add eggs, buttermilk, and extracts. Mix on low and then on medium-high until mixture is fluffy. 

Fold in nuts and cranberries. 

Spray a 13x9 cake pan and 3 mini (2x5) pans with non-stick cooking spray. 

Pour enough batter into the 13x9 pan to make it 1/2-2/3 full. It made the baked cake nearly level with the top of the pan. Just enough room for frosting. Divide remaining batter among the three mini pans.

Place all cakes in the 350 degree oven.

Take mini cakes out after approximately 32 minutes, 13x9 out after 43 minutes (not 43 additional, but 43 total). Do test the cakes with a wood pick to make sure they are done. Cool on baking racks.

Frost cakes (optional, of course).

Frosting:

Some butter, some confectioner's sugar, a bit of milk, and a wee bit of vanilla and an even weeer bit of almond. You'll have to wing it for I don't remember how much of anything I put in. But start with 2-3 T. soft butter and go from there. You don't want the frosting so thick that it's unspreadable or rips up the top of the cake, and you don't want it so runny that it doesn't have any body.

Cranberry Pecan Cake - so moist!

So if you're looking for a delicious gluten free cake recipe, look no further.  If you'd like to make it the usual way, please visit Carla and ask her to post the recipe. You can tell her I sent you to pester her. :-)

I served this cake at our recent hymn sing. I'm pretty sure that not a soul would have guessed that it is gluten free. I guess that's a good thing, considering that some people seem to know instantly that if it's gluten-free, they don't want anything to do with it. I won't mention my son's name here.

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This post is linked to

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday and A Creative Princess and Amaze Me Monday and  Ivy and Elephants and  Tweak it Tuesday and Treasure Box Tuesday

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