This is my favorite cake of all time! I usually only make it on Thanksgiving, Christmas and when my daughter requests it for her birthday. Why??? Because I would eat the whole thing (if no one was watching). The tartness of the cranberries in the cake combines with the sweet creamy butter flavored sauce to create a bit of heaven on earth. This sauce is so amazing!!!

This is one of the recipes from my first recipe box – I think I wrote it down as I was getting ready to move to Iowa for my first teaching job after I graduated from college. The recipe is for a 9 x 13 pan, but I made half a batch for these photos, which fits into a 9 x 9 pan.

Cream the butter and sugar (it doesn’t get really creamy), add vanilla and mix. Add dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Mix well. The batter will be thick.

Add the cranberries and gently fold in.

Bake about 35 minutes or until slightly browned on top. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. You want to eat this cake warm. But you can warm up individual pieces in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Yum! So pretty and so delicious!

A repeat….this is best warm and very best right out of the oven…and you need to have the Hot Butter Sauce ready to flood the plate. It is really best to use a bowl – so you can add more sauce. You won’t believe how wonderful this cake is. If you make it, it will become one of your family’s new traditions. You might want to try it this weekend…just to see if you want to add it to your Thanksgiving menu this year. Happy Weekend! Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Cranberry Cake

Absolutely the BEST cake ever! Another long time traditional family recipe.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cranberry, Holidays

Servings: 16 servings

Author: Mary Beth

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 4 cups whole raw cranberries

Hot Butter Sauce

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup cream

Instructions

Cake

• Cream butter and sugar, add vanilla. Mix well.
• Sift dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture, alternately (beginning and ending with dry ingredients) with the milk. Fold in cranberries.
• Pour into sprayed 9 x 13 dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes, until slightly browned on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool about 10 minutes. Cut in squares and serve with Hot Butter Sauce

Hot Butter Sauce

• Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Blend in sugar and add cream. Simmer 3-4 minutes. Pour over warm cake.

I love decorating the house for Christmas! It is so fun pulling out the boxes of decorations and thinking about our favorite ones and the memories that go along with them. Nostalgic decorations are mixed in with new ones each year.

Mark’s mom collected Carolers, and we started collecting them when the kids came along. We have added to our collection over the years, so this is the grandparents, Mark and I and our four kids. Now when our children get married, we give them carolers. Then as they add dogs – and babies – we add to their collection.

I did this Christmas counted cross stitch design the second year we were married, when I was working at Harper’s Fabrics in Kansas City for their holiday show.

The winter before our oldest son was born, I took a class and painted these three Santa’s. They are some of my favorite Christmas decorations.

One Santa has a Christmas list for the Carrs!

I love the color and textures of these Santa’s.

So many presents for Santa to share!

Mark’s parents gave us this music box years ago.

I have collected Williraye figures over the years. Such cute folk art Christmas decorations.

Mud Pie dishes are another favorite of mine.

Red and white Mud Pie little bowls sit by the snowman on a kitchen shelf.

These little candy houses add a pop of color in the kitchen.

Mark’s sister, Kari, gave me these cute little mice to add to my collection this year.

This Williraye nativity scene is so special and we get it out every year.

Santa’s of many designs are throughout the house. From big to small, I love them all.

This Santa has been with us for about 20 years – love the little Teddy Bear hanging down from his arm.

Little white lights are in almost every room! And I leave them on almost all the time. I love coming downstairs in the morning when it is still dark and seeing all the little lights highlighting the Christmas decorations. So even though Christmas will be different this year, I still put up Christmas decorations because it just makes me happy to see them.

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!!! May you have a joyful and peaceful holiday season and a healthy new year!

When you think back to your childhood and about your favorite foods, what do you think of? My husband and I both love applesauce – but I prefer mine smooth and warm, and he likes his chunky and cold, with cinnamon added. We both think that the one we had as kids is the best!

Last weekend we went to an orchard and bought apples so we could experiment with our chunky applesauce recipe.

We started with 9 pounds of apples. We used the old-fashioned apple peeler/corer to peel, core and slice the apples.

Place apples in a large pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, or until the apples are tender.

Use a potato masher to mash apples to your desired texture. You could also puree the apples in a food processor or blender, if you want smooth applesauce. This is a fun project to involve the whole family.

One option is to freeze the applesauce. Label and put into containers. We put most of the first batch in individual-sized containers, but did a few quart-sized for family gatherings.

You can also use a boiling -water canner to process the applesauce. If you use pint jars, they will need to be processed for 20 minutes

Print Recipe

Carr’s Chunky Homemade Applesauce

Traditionally the Carr family made their applesauce chunky with cinnamon, and served cold.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Apple, Applesauce

Servings: 12 cups

Author: Mary Beth

Ingredients

• 9 pounds apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices
• 3/4 cup apple cider
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a large pot and cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar and cinnamon to your preference.
• Mash with a potato masher to get the texture you desire.
• Store in the refrigerator, if using immediately. Divide into containers and freeze or divide into pint jars and process for 20 minutes in boiling-water canner to preserve to enjoy later.
• Use your favorite apples or combinations. We used Jonagold and Gala this time, we have used Honeycrisp, Jonathans and McIntosh in the past.

Notes

This is adapted from Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Homemade Applesauce.