Recipe: Pumpkin Upside-Down Cake with Cranberry Pecan Topping

Every Thursday on the Good Food Blog we share a recipe from our archives.

Emily Luchetti is the author of A Passion for Desserts, published by Chronicle Books. She first shared this recipe for Pumpkin Upside-Down Cake with Cranberry Pecan Topping on October 11, 2003.

Photo: SF Antti on flickr

Pumpkin Upside-Down Cake with Cranberry Pecan Topping

Makes 8 to 10 servings

• 8 ozs (16 Tablespoons) unsalted butter

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 2 cups cranberries

• 4 ozs (1 cup) coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup pumpkin puree

• 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 14 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and whisk until smooth. Pour the brown sugar mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the cranberries and pecans. Place them in the pan over the brown sugar mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, and oil. In another bowl, sift together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Carefully spread the batter over the cranberry pecan topping.

Bake the cake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Place a large plate or platter on top of the cake. Invert the cake and plate together, then remove the pan. Carefully peel off the parchment paper. Let cool completely before serving.