by Millie Bentley
Greetings and Merry Christmas! Christmas is here again. How quickly ol’ Santa Claus creeps up on us – as do our years here. I like to think that one of the very nice things about growing older is that we get a little smarter. How many times have you said to yourself, “Goodness! I wish I’d known that when I was 20 years old.” Or 30, or 40.
To the kitchen! Here is a festive cornmeal cake made with cranberries that you can make for Christmas. It is a recipe from my friend Imogene, she is an excellent cook.
Cornmeal Cranberry Cake
1 ½ cups flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, soft
4 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup fresh cranberries (or fresh-frozen, no sugar)
whipping cream, sweetened
Grease and flour a 10-inch springform pan. Turn on oven to 350˚F. Mix together flour, cornmeal and baking powder. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar and butter until blended. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Now add the mixed flour, cornmeal and baking powder. Beat well until all flour mixture is incorporated into sugar/butter mixture. Scrape batter into greased and floured spingform pan. Sprinkle cranberries over top and lightly press them into the batter. Bake at 350˚F for about 45 minutes or until edges look golden brown, and cool at least an hour before serving with sweetened whipping cream. If you make your own, use four tablespoons sugar to one cup whipping cream and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Don’t overheat or you’ll have butter. Easily serves 12 people after a big dinner.
Until next time, dear friends, vaya con Dios.
