Orange & rosemary cranberry sauce

Time to put away the canned stuff because I’m going to prove to you how easy it is to make your own cranberry sauce! It takes about 5 minutes to make and your turkey we’ll be more than happy to share the spotlight with this delicious sauce!

I usually make mine 1 hour before my turkey is ready, that way, I can use some of the turkey broth that’s in the oven 🙂

Ingredients

1 package of fresh cranberries or a box of frozen cranberries (about 2 cups)

2 green shallots (chopped)

1 tablespoon of butter

1 branch of Rosemary

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 cup of white sugar (or more, it’s as you wish really…)

2 tablespoons of orange juice

1/4 cup of turkey broth (basically the good juice that’s lying in the bottom of the roasting pan)

salt & pepper

Preparation

On low heat add the shallots and the rosemary to the butter. Cook for 1 minute. Add all the other ingredients. Cook for about 5-7 minutes. Your cranberries will burst open and the sauce will become thicker and look like a jam. Once it’s to your liking, reserve.

Let cool before serving

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Pumpkin…cake!

Well it’s Thanksgiving today in Canada and even though many people think that us frenchies (I’m from Montreal which makes me French Canadian) don’t celebrate this wonderful and delicious holiday, well we do! And to prove it here is a great recipe that I found last week on the Martha Stewart website and it has been tried, tested and approved ny none other than MOI! Oh yes, by my friends and family too of course!

This cake reminded me of the pumpkin pie my mother use to make when I was little. Oddly, I don’t really like pumpking pie so why I was so attracted by this cake recipe is a mystery to me. I guess that I was in the Thanksgiving spirit?

The cake is very dense and doesn’t really taste like pumpkin at all. Even my friend who hates the vegetable in the cake combo, went for a second piece. Martha suggested a vanilla frosting. It was okay but a bit sweet, if I were to do it again I think that I would try some type of glaze (orange perhaps?) instead.

But the icing made it rustic looking which was nice. I didn’t put any nutmeg or allspice as I don’t like those spices very much.And I reduced the amount of sugar as well (which was a good thing because the icing is very sweet). If you want to make the cake look more festive you could always add some orange food coloring in it!

Ingredients – Serves 8 to 10

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup of sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup homemade pumpkin puree or canned

1/2 cup warm milk

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Coat with butter.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until combined. Add pumpkin puree and milk; beat until combined. Add reserved flour mixture; beat on low speed until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool. Let cake rest 20 minutes.

Unmold cake. Using an offset spatula, spread icing over top of cake, and decorate with walnut halves.

Vanilla Frosting

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons milk

Directions

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk; stir until smooth. Layer over cake once the cake has cooled.

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