Out of boredom, comes cake

Since Hunter was in the 'hospital' last night, recovering from his knee surgery, I was home alone. No one brought me any toys, or wanted to play tug or even watched me work in the kitchen.

Today at work, these two cakes appeared....

Cranberry Upsidedown Cake
Jama gave me some dried berries on Tuesday that were reincarnated into this lovely cake, which was inspired by the folks at Cooking Light and changed by me.

Preheat the oven to 350F and butter a (9x9) cake pan.

Topping:
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried fruit (I used berries and cherries)
2 Tablespoons chopped nuts
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice

Combine cranberries, fruit, nuts, and rind in a bowl. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, 2 tablespoons juice, and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Sprinkle cranberry mixture evenly into pan. Pour brown sugar mixture over the berry mix.

Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
6 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons orange juice

Lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately then spoon batter over cranberry mixture.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; run a knife around outside edges. Invert cake onto a plate; cool.

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 Tablespoons milk

Combine powdered sugar, butter and milk in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Drizzle.

and for number two.....................................................

Dutch Apple Pie Bars
I saw a recipe for some apple bars with a fantastic crust, but didn't want to do the traditional cinnamon filling - so I merged two recipes (Apple Bars + Dutch Apple Pie) to create this.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 Tablespoons softened butter
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ground almonds

Topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, cold

Filling:
5 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 medium apples, cored & cut into thin slices

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x12 baking pan with parchment. Butter lightly.

Make the Crust: Combine the flour and ground almonds and set aside. In the bowl of your trusty stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the almond extract. Add sugar and beat on medium speed until blended. On low speed, mix in the flour/almond just until the dough comes together. It should be crumbly. Save about 1 cup of the crust mixture for the topping. Press the remaining dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until light golden, about 16-18 minutes. Remove crust from the oven.

Make the Topping: Add the flour and brown sugar to the reserved dough. Cut in the butter and mix with your fingertips. It should remain crumbly.

Make the Filling: Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and the lemon juice.

Assembly: Arrange the apple slices over the baked crust. Pour the cream cheese filling over the apples and spread to cover. Crumble the topping over the filling. Bake until golden brown, about 45-50 minutes.