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Cranberry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake & Review of The Whole Grain Promise

Published on October 17, 2015 By Emily. Updated on August 8, 2020

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slice of Cranberry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake

Not all cookbooks are created equal.  I have some in my collection that, it turns out, don’t really have many recipes I’m interested in making.  Others are full of interesting ideas, but require too much time or too many specialty ingredients.  This is not at all the case with The Whole Grain Promise by Robin Asbell.

The Whole Grain Promise

I am really excited about this cookbook.  Almost all of the recipes sounded right up my alley and the ones I’ve tried so far (Cranberry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake, Egg Curry Breakfast Bowl and Big Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes with Berries) have been clear, straightforward, hearty and delicious.  This is not a vegetarian cookbook, but very few of the recipes include meat.  Similarly, The Whole Grain Promise features only a couple recipes that utilize a meat substitute (tofu).  This is a whole grain, whole food, flexitarian-friendly cookbook.  In short, these are recipes that I’m actually going to make.  Be prepared to see this cookbook popping up in a lot of my menu plans.

Because I’m a big nerd, I’m almost as excited about the book’s layout as I am about the content.  The Whole Grain Promise is broken into sections by type of dish (breakfast, salads, sides, quick snacks, desserts, etc.).  The table of contents lists all of the recipes in each section, making it really simple to find what you’re looking for without hunting through the thorough index.  There beginning of the book features useful guides including “Getting Started” and “Strategies for Making It Easy (and Saving Money)”.  The book also has a super helpful grain cooking guide, which I’ve bookmarked and already referred to multiple times because I can never remember ratios. There are lovely photographs every few pages, along with occasional extra tips and bits of information.  But my favorite thing about the layout of this book is that every recipe fits on a single page.  It’s a small thing, but it makes using the book so much more convenient.

Cranberry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake from above

Robin gave the bloggers participating in her cookbook potluck the opportunity to choose from a number of recipes to share.  I immediately knew that I wanted to make the Cranberry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake.  I don’t make desserts too often, but this one sounded awesome and easy.  My hopes were fulfilled: the cake didn’t take long to assemble and resulted in few dishes (always a plus!).  The instructions say to wrap the springform pan in foil so it doesn’t leak.  Don’t skip this step – even with a foil jacket, my pan still leaked and I ended up putting a cookie sheet on the rack below.  But that minor glitch didn’t affect the outcome of the recipe.  The cake easily flipped out of the pan after baking (well, easily for Brian — I was scared I was going to drop it and made him turn it out).  I was thrilled with how close to the cookbook photo my result looked and even happier with the taste of this cake.  The brown sugar top has a nice crunch and the tart cranberries are perfectly complemented by the cornmeal cake.  This beautiful cake would impress almost any audience. I’m already brainstorming opportunities to make it again; I think this cake would be a beautiful addition to a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.

Cranberry Cornmeal Upside Down Cake

Reprinted with permission from The Whole Grain Promise: More Than 100 Recipes to Jumpstart a Healthier Diet, Running Press
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings 10 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 2 cups cranberries fresh or frozen
  • 1 cup cornmeal medium grind
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375° F. Wrap an 11-inch round springform pan with foil so that if any butter leaks out, it won't burn in the oven. In the pan, melt the butter by putting it in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes as the oven heats up. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly in the pan, and distribute the cranberries evenly over that. Reserve.
  • In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk canola oil, egg, yogurt, and vanilla.
  • Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring until well combined. Scrape evenly over the berries.
  • Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs, but no raw batter on it.
  • Cool for 5 minutes in the pan on a rack, the place a plate over the cake, and holding firmly, flip to invert the cake on the plate. If any topping stays in the pan, quickly pick it out with a butter knife and put it in any gaps on the cake. Let cool completely.
  • Keeps, tightly covered, for 1 week.

Notes

Cranberries make a bright topping for this luscious cake, which is perfect for a fall dessert, or a change from the usual pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. Sweet, toothsome cornmeal makes the cake sturdy enough to stand up to the tangy, buttery berry topping, with delicious results.

Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of The Whole Grain Promise by Robin Asbell in exchange for a review and sharing of a recipe.  As always, my opinions are my own.  Thanks for Robin for supporting Relishments!

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Filed Under: dessert, recipe, recipe review Tagged With: books, fall, review

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Comments

  1. Morgan says

    October 23, 2015 at 8:49 am

    YUM! Like you, I LOVE this cookbook!

    Can’t wait to try this Cranberry Cornmeal Upside Down Cake! I’ve made the Indian Yellow Rice Biryani {but with quinoa} and am posting the No Knead Stealth Bread soon!

Trackbacks

  1. Twosday XXVIII: Fall Faves and More | Relishments says:
    October 20, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    […] I can’t get enough of1.  The Whole Grain Promise by Robin Asbell.  See last weekend’s review here.2.  The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman.  I got this cookbook for my birthday […]

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Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
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It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
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New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

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New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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