Currant-Cranberry Spice Cake - by Summer

I have seen dried currants (at least the same ones that Lisa used) many times at my regular grocery store, but when I went to pick some up for this recipe - I couldn't find any.  I found regular currants, but the recipe specifically called for dried ones, so off I went to different stores in search of currents.  I finally found some. 

It didn't occur to me until I was making the cake that I wonder what type of canned cranberry I should be using - jellied or whole berry sauce?  I picked up some of the jellied and crossed my fingers that it was the right stuff to use.

This cake came together quickly and smelled pretty yummy.  I should mention that the recipe said to spray the pan with cooking spray and then flour it.  I had disastrous results with this - too much cooking spray, so I just washed the pan and then used butter and flour. I did add the walnuts to the batter since I had them on hand.  My cake baked for about 48 minutes and it was done.  It didn't rise a whole lot, so I was a little worried.

After it came out of the oven, I was inspired by my leftover jellied cranberry sauce.  I decided to make a cranberry glaze with it.  I warmed it over the oven and added powdered sugar and whisked away.  It was a nice pretty color pink.

I enjoyed the cake.  A friend of mine commented that it reminded him of carrot cake - I think it was the combination of currants and walnuts.  I agree.  It's a nice simple cake.  I can see substituting raisins instead of the currants in the future since they are way easier to find and I usually have them on hand.