Pumpkin Pecan Cranberry Upside Down Cake

This festive little cake was the result of gathering ingredients from my kitchen and hunting for recipes that included them. I started with fresh cranberries and pumpkins, and knew that I would probably need some butter to make it GOOD. Pecans were a no brainer and brown sugar seemed like another appropriate ingredient to add to the bunch. After a quick search and a few key words using my ingredients, I found this DELICIOUS cake recipe. Pineapple Upside Down Cake was one of my favorites growing up and I had no doubt this version featuring pumpkin, pecan and cranberries would be a nice seasonal twist! 

The cranberries are sweet, yet tart, the nuts are gooey and decadent and the pumpkin is just enough.

If you need a quick, yet impressive dessert to share with friends this Christmas season, this one is a winner. Served warm with vanilla bean ice cream is totally the way to go.

Pumpkin Pecan Cranberry Upside Down Cake
recipe from Sis. Boom Blog

16 Tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
6 Tbsp. canola oil
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake 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 cake 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 and canola oil. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir until combined. Carefully spread the batter over the cranberry pecan topping. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Place a large plate or platter on top of the cake. Invert the cake and plate together and remove the pan. Carefully peel off the parchment paper.