A crock pot baking experiment: Cranberry Coffee Cake

Yes, I did.  I bought another crock pot.  My crock count is now up to 6.  It's an addiction.  But, better crock than crack, I always say.

I believe this may be the cutest thing I've ever had in my kitchen.  I bought it SOLELY because I love the owls.  They are so retro, and remind me of the 70's kitchens of my childhood.  The only thing I need now is a macramé plant holder with wooden beads on it, and some Bee Gee's music playing in the background.  It doesn't hurt that I got a smokin' deal on this crock...it was on sale for $19.99, and I also had a 20% coupon, which brought it down to $15.99.  I couldn't pass it up for that, especially considering you never know when I might break two of my other 4 qt crocks and need an extra one for a crockin' emergency.

Just to put a little something in this new crock (to make it feel at home, don'tcha know...), I bought some fresh cranberries and decided to make a crock pot cranberry coffee cake.  Christmas morning breakfast is always my jurisdiction, so I was thinking this coffee cake might be something I could mix up (topping, cranberries, and dry ingredients) the night before, then in the morning stir in the wet ingredients, pop it in the crock, and go about my business.

This cake is from Amy Green over at www.simplysugarandglutenfree.com.  You can view it right: HERE . 

Well, hmmm.  I don't know.  It wasn't my favorite.  It was pretty dense and rich, but that might be because I used full-fat dairy when the recipe called for low-fat.  And I used a combo of butter and olive oil in place of the coconut oil.  Eh.  It was alright. 

I think if I were to make this cake again I'd reduce the oil and bake it in a 13 x 9 in the oven.  I'm just not at all sold on baking in the crock pot.  For one thing it was way too deep.  The cake ended up being like 4 inches tall.  And crock pots always cook hotter on one side, which browned the cake way too much on one side.  Plus, it's just not all that conducive to good baking because the outsides get done LONG before the middle gets done.  I think crock pots do best with things that can be stirred every once in a while, to help stuff cook evenly. 

So there ya go.  I wouldn't say it was a failure.  It's still good to eat, just in very thin slices, slightly warmed in the microwave, topped with fresh pears.  Now that's pretty good.  It really was more of a pound cake, in my opinion (again could be the fault of my full-fat substitutions).  But, I think I'm going to stick to the oven for baking from now on, and keep searching for that perfect gluten-free, refined sugar-free cranberry cake.

Do you happen to have that perfect GF, refined-sugar free, cranberry cake or cranberry bread recipe?  If so, send it to me!

Maybe I'm just in one of those moods, but man, my life's recurring, consistent theme is always "simplify, simplify"...and today I'm thinking that I need to go further in this respect, in terms of getting food done around here.  I'm finding that the crock pot just doesn't help me that much in terms of saving me time and effort unless I have purchased ingredients in bulk, and pre-prepped them ahead of time.  For instance, I had a Lime Salsa Chicken recipe ready to go in the freezer.  On Friday I took it out and put it in the fridge to thaw.  And on Sunday I popped the off my freezer container, and dumped the lime salsa chicken into the crock pot.  That's it.  Then later we ate.  Now THAT'S  what I need more of. 

It doesn't help at all, like today for instance, when I made French Dips in the crock pot.  I still had to slice onions, sauté them, with garlic, measure the other ingredients, add the beef, clean it all up...it was still cooking dinner, but just earlier in the day, which don't get me wrong...helps...some.  But when something is totally made, and all I have to do is literally, bake or crock it...that's a whole other level of awesome.  That's pretty much like someone else cooked.  It's like..."who made this fabulous lime salsa chicken?? Oh yeah, it was me."   I gotta find more ways to avoid the constant barrage of dishes.  I made pumpkin muffins too yesterday, and I was in the kitchen all day.  Well, half the day.  But still. Other stuff is not getting done around here, and I'm just tired.  A meal that is made, in the freezer, and just needs to be baked or crocked...THAT is what I am turning my attention to next.  I need to free up a little time for deep cleaning and fall garage and yard clean up. 

So.  do you have any good freezer recipes?  I have several.  And I am, as of now, seeking them like a blood hound hot on the trail. 

As always, I'll keep you in the loop.