Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Hi there– All the years we lived in Spain we had a fun friend Carolyn, who mailed us peanut butter and books for kids and best of all– fresh cranberries every Thanksgiving!  They were a treasure!  –a little worse for wear having come through the postal systems, but we loved those things  — and all the cranberry bread and cranberry sauce and cranberry cheesecake they would provide.  Thanks once more dear Carolyn!

Now this old family recipe doesn’t use fresh cranberries.  You can just buy a can of them any old time of year and have your cranberry coffee cake.  The sour cream makes it tender and it has frosting!  Who doesn’t love frosting?  Hope you like it as much as we have over the years…

CRANBERRY SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
1/2 cup margarine, room temperature*
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (8 oz.)
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. amaretto or almond extract
1 14 oz. can whole cranberry sauce
1/2 cup walnuts (or more if you like nuts as much as I do)

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. amaretto
few drops of water

With the electric mixer cream cream the butter, eggs, sugar and sour cream together.  Then mix in the flour, baking powder, salt and amaretto.  Spoon the stiff batter into a 10″ springform pan (or a 9″x13″ pan) that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Top the cake with the cranberry sauce– I spoon it out and break it into small pieces with my fingers to cover the cake.  Sprinkle on the walnuts and pop it into a 350 degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes until it is cooked through.

When the cake is cooled mix the powdered sugar and amaretto and a couple drops of water to mix up a thick glaze (just keep adding water one drop at a time until is is the consistency you want).  Drizzle it over the cake and serve it up with something hot to drink.  Perfect.