Pumpkin Crunch Cake with Candied Cranberries

For Thanksgiving, I baked a delicious cake adapted from this recipe.

My cake looked quite different, the layers more defined, the crunch darker.  It was delicious!

To make this cake, just follow the link recipe above.

The only thing I changed was to put a tiny bit of maple syrup in the frosting to give it a more complex flavor.

I didn't want to cover my whole cake in the crunch topping because its a TON of butter (the whole cake has almost 7 sticks), and the cake is so sweet it needs a tartness to balance it out.  I decided on cranberries.

How to candy cranberries (or anything really)

In a double boiler, bring 1/2 cup of sugar and a few tablespoons of water to point where the sugar has completely dissolved.  It won't be boiling.

Add in your cranberries.  I didn't measure, but you don't want too many.  I probably had a little over 1/2 a cup.

Cook for about 45 minutes, and take off heat.

Let the cranberries sit in the juice overnight, or at least a few hours.

Strain the juices off and put 1/2 cup of sugar onto a plate.

Put your cranberries on the plate with sugar and roll them around.

Tah-dah!

As you can see, I garnished the top and sides of the cake with the cranberries, and it was enough to cut the richness of the cake.  Everyone loved it!

On that note, no cake I have made fits in my portable cake carrier.  They need to make those lids taller...