TWD: Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

So....this weekend in Northern California...Saturday was sunny, a warm 79 degrees and I was wearing shorts to my sons' soccer games. Sunday rolls around and it's rainy, gray and a cool 53 degrees. How does that happen? I guess I shouldn't sound surprised...it happens every year here and every year we act like it's the weirdest thing.

Perfect weather for baking though. Especially something reminding me of fall...something with cranberries baked right in. Even though I would much rather be snuggled on the couch in front of a warm fire... :) I had to make do with the oven warming the house.

Let me just start by telling you that the cranberry jam is so very good. Just cranberries, orange zest, oranges and sugar. I could have just made the jam and stopped there. Jarred it and given it away as Christmas gifts. I just might make another batch and do that.

I didn't add any extra sugar to the mixture. I thought it was just right with the 1 cup of sugar added at the beginning.

I also didn't roll the dough. I froze the discs and grated one into the bottom of the pan. Spread the cranberry jam on top and then grated the other frozen disc onto the top. Anytime I can avoid rolling dough...I gladly do just that.

Oh yeah, I did double the recipe and bake it in a 9x13 pan. I thought the PTC would like something other than a bundt cake this month. So this is what they get...hope they like it. :)

However, let me tell you, when you double the recipe...that's a lot of grating...a lot.

And as you can see...I should have pressed the dough together a little more. The top looks a little spaetzle-y. Oh well, it sure tastes good. Not too sweet, very tangy and tart. A big hit in my house. I'll be making this again for sure.

Thank you, thank you to Jessica over at Singleton in the Kitchen. Your choice this week was great.

Don't forget to stop by the TWD site to see what the others have created.

Thanks for stopping by.