Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thanksgiving Day with ABC Cake



We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends from Calgary, Alberta and British Columbia even though their celebration was in October. The turkey was done to perfection and Georgia prepared all the trimmings. Eight of us enjoyed the weather with appetizers on the patio, then the BIG meal followed by a hike up the mountain to watch the sunset. A little wine to toast the day was great although I don't know why we carried the stemware up that mountain of rocks. Dessert beckoned us home in the twilight and we enjoyed ABC Cake pg192 on the patio around a roaring fire. A dense, moist cake filled with dried cranberry and dried apricot and hint of banana, it was a great way to end a beautiful November day in Arizona.

Apricot-Banana-Cranberry Cake (ABC Cake)

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
6 ounces dried cranberries
6 ounces dried apricots, chopped
1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Beat the sugar, bananas, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until blended. Add the buttermilk and butter and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture. Fold in the cranberries, apricots and walnuts just until combined.
Spoon the batter into a buttered and floured 12-cup bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto the wire rack to cool completely.
Serves 16