It's just around the corner...

Thanksgiving.

I love the smell of Thanksgiving. Whenever someone asks me what my favorite smell is, Thanksgiving Day is the answer...the whole house just smells sooooo good. My favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving....not as easy to pick. One thing I never used to like was cranberry sauce, but I think that's because I didn't really grow up having it. However, I was pleased to discover that I do actually like it! Dried cranberries in the stuffing is really good. I know it sounds kinda iffy, but if you have never tired it, you should. Maybe reserve a few cups of stuffing and add 2 tablespoons of cranberries that have been boiled in chicken or turkey stock for a few minutes to the stuffing and give it a taste. You might find you really like it. And a smear of cranberry sauce on your turkey sandwich the next day is delish. But these two options are not original at all. "Cranberry people" do this stuff every year. So if you want to try cranberries, here is a cake. It will turn you into a cranberry person for sure!

Cranberry Cake

Cake:
1 18.25 oz. white cake mix
1 1/4 cups cranberry juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
6 tablespoons cranberry sauce

Glaze:
1/2 cup cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon white cranberry juice

Icing:
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch Bundt pan with butter or shortening and set aside.

Combine cake mix, juice, oil, and egg whites in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Remove 1 cup of batter and transfer to a small bowl. Stir in cranberry sauce until well combined.

Pour half of white cake batter into prepared Bundt pan. Top with cranberry cake batter. Pour over the remaining half of white cake batter. Bake in preheated oven for 38 to 40 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Remove and cool for 15 minutes and turn Bundt pan over onto a serving plate and gently lift pan to remove cake.

Glaze:
Combine all glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and heat through over medium heat until syrupy.

Icing:
Mix all icing ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk until a smooth thick consistency.

Drizzle icing and glaze over top and down sides of cake.


Easy Cranberry Sauce

2 cups cranberries
Juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup Port or Cherry Brandy
1/2 cup sugar, or more if needed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a small saucepan combine cranberries, orange juice and zest, port or cherry brandy, sugar and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmering and cook until cranberries are tender, stirring occasionally. In a small cup make a *slurry with cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Whisk cornstarch mixture into cranberry sauce and cook, whisking, until sauce thickens. Taste and add more sugar (a tablespoon at a time) if sauce is too tart.


*slurry
A thin paste of water and cornstarch or flour, which is stirred into hot preparations (such as soups, stews and sauces) as a thickener. After the slurry is added, the mixture should be stirred and cooked for several minutes in order for the cornstarch or flour to lose its raw taste.