I picked up a pound of local cranberries at the Farmer’s Market last weekend, and finally got around to baking part of them into a cake this evening. I’ve been using Profgrrrl’s recipe for the past year, and it never fails. I’m going to paste it in over here so I won’t have to root through my links and her archives every time I want to make it.

1 tablespoon margarine, melted
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups cranberries
1/4 cup stick margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°.
Pour 1 tablespoon melted margarine in the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Combine brown sugar and cranberries; arrange in a single layer over margarine.

Cream 1/4 cup margarine and 1 cup sugar, beating at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and cinnamon; stir well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Spoon batter evenly over cranberries. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert cake onto a serving platter