"Berry" Good!

You could serve this butter sauce on cardboard and you'd think you were having a gourmet dessert.

But it'll be even better with the cranberry cake.

Cranberries say "holidays" to me. The beautiful red color and the tangy burst of flavor are a great alternative to pumpkin desserts this time of year.

I personally love pumpkin, but one of my sisters doesn't. From November through December, she often goes to meetings where the dessert of choice prominently features pumpkin. That's a great weight-loss plan at this time of year when the temptations are as plentiful as the proverbial "sugar plums dancing in your head."

When it's my turn to bring dessert to a gathering during the holiday season, I figure there may be one or two other people who join Lisa in the anti-pumpkin campaign. This is one of those desserts that still says "Merry Christmas."

Enjoy!

Cranberry Cake

1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. butter
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 cups raw cranberries

Cream together sugar and butter. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk. Mix well. Fold in cranberries. Put in greased 9- by 13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with butter sauce.

Note: This doesn't have eggs. In other words, it's not a misprint.

Butter Sauce

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring butter, sugar and whipping cream to boil. Let is boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Serve warm over cake. Store leftover sauce in the refrigerator and rewarm.

This dessert is great "as is," just the cake and the butter sauce. For a special treat, serve with a dollop of ice cream (For my Nu Lambda meeting, I used a caramel swirl ice cream.)