Boozy Cranberry Cobbler Cake -- The Spirit of the Season, Poured Into Every Jar

The week of Christmas. Carrie's birthday is Friday — she turns fourteen on December 23rd. I made sushi for her birthday dinner — my best effort yet, five different rolls, including one with tempura shrimp that married my Lowcountry love of shrimp with Carrie's Japanese obsession. She pronounced it "pretty good for a beginner," which is the highest praise she has ever given my cooking and which I will remember when I am eighty.

For her birthday gift, I gave her a book: "Kitchen" by Banana Yoshimoto, a Japanese novel about a young woman who finds solace in cooking after loss. I chose it because it lives at the intersection of Carrie's two passions — Japan and food — and because it says something I want her to know: that kitchens are places of refuge, that cooking is a form of healing. She started reading it immediately and didn't look up for two hours.

Robert gave Carrie a set of Japanese calligraphy pens, and James gave her a journal with Tokyo on the cover, which he found at the bookstore and which made Carrie's face do the thing it does when she is delighted but trying to maintain her composure.

Christmas preparations are underway. The tree is up — decorated with ornaments that span the full range of our family history. I made eggnog from scratch — Mama's recipe, heavy on the bourbon, which is the Simmons way — and distributed it to neighbors in mason jars with handwritten labels.

I drove to Beaufort on Wednesday to pick up Mama and Joy for Christmas. They will stay through New Year's. The drive was long but the car was warm and Mama sat beside me humming "O Holy Night," which is the hymn my father sang every Christmas Eve at Tabernacle Baptist, and Joy sat in the back singing the words she remembered and humming the ones she'd forgotten, and the car was full of music and memory and the particular tenderness of three women driving north together on the darkest week of the year toward a house full of light.

That drive home—Mama humming, Joy singing, the three of us wrapped in music and winter dark—called for something celebratory when we finally got inside and hung our coats. I wanted a dessert that felt like the season: tart and warm and a little bourbon-forward, because that’s the Simmons way. This cobbler cake came together the next afternoon while Mama napped and Joy read by the fire, and it tasted exactly like the kind of thing you make when the people you love most are finally under your roof.

Boozy Cranberry Cobbler Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for cranberry layer)
• 3 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (for batter)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)
• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Instructions

1. Prepare the oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round or square baking dish with butter and set aside.
2. Macerate the cranberries. In a medium bowl, toss the cranberries with 1/2 cup sugar, bourbon, and orange zest. Let them sit for 10 minutes while you prepare the batter — the sugar will begin drawing out the juices and the bourbon will perfume the fruit beautifully.
3. Make the batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the milk, melted butter, vanilla, and egg. Stir until just smooth — do not overmix.
4. Assemble. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. Spoon the cranberry mixture and all its juices over the top of the batter. Do not stir — as the cake bakes, the batter will rise up around the cranberries and create that signature cobbler layering.
5. Bake. Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean. The cranberry layer will be bubbling and jammy at the edges.
6. Cool and serve. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve warm with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For gifting — Naomi’s preferred holiday move — allow to cool completely, cut into squares, and wrap in parchment tied with kitchen twine.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 265 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 43g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 140mg