Since we will have family staying with us during Thanksgiving, I have been planning the menus for this holiday weekend. Although my husband, son and daughter-in-law will expect their favorites -- roast turkey and corn bread dressing, spiced sweet potato gratin, and green beans with herbed butter -- to be on the buffet on the fourth Thursday of November, they are always open to new desserts.

Consequently, I've decided to add a cranberry-apple buckle to our table along with some traditional sweets this year. If you had asked me several months ago exactly what a buckle was, I would have described it vaguely as a fruit dessert in the family of cobblers and crisps. The late Richard Sax in Classic Home Desserts defines a buckle as berries folded into, or scattered over, a tender yellow cake batter topped with crumbs.

I had never made a buckle until this summer, when I prepared a very old blueberry buckle recipe given to me by my friend Steve Stover from Columbus, Ohio. Fresh berries were folded into a butter-rich cake batter, spread in a baking pan and then topped with a cinnamon-scented crumb topping. The enticing aroma wafting from the oven, even before the buckle was removed, was the first clue that this was a rare dessert.

When cranberries appeared in the markets this fall, I decided to replace the blueberries with them and also to add some diced apples. When the new version turned out to be as mouthwatering as the original, I realized that this confection could serve several purposes for Thanksgiving cooks. Equally good piping hot or just slightly warm, the cranberry-apple buckle would make a stellar ending to a Thanksgiving Day menu, but it could also be served along with glasses of freshly squeezed juice and pots of coffee and tea at brunch during this long weekend. Then, of course, you could do what I plan to do -- offer it both on the big day and then use the leftovers (if there are any!) for breakfast the following morning.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services International.

Fresh Cranberry-Apple Buckle

Makes 6 servings

CAKE:

5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups cranberries, rinsed and dried

1 medium Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 -inch dice

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup whole milk

1 pint vanilla ice cream, optional

TOPPING:

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Arrange rack at center position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter shallow 2-quart baking dish or 9-inch-square baking dish.

To prepare cake, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter in medium heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add cranberries and stir until berries just pop and split open, only about 1 minute. Do not overcook, or berries will become mushy. Remove pan from heat and add diced apple and 3 tablespoons of the granulated sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

In mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and stir to mix. Set aside. With electric mixer on medium speed, cream together remaining 4 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes, stopping machine and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in egg and vanilla and mix well to blend. Reduce speed to low and beat in half of the dry ingredients, then the milk and finally the remaining dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition.

Using slotted spoon, add cranberry mixture to batter and gently fold it in. Spread batter evenly in prepared baking dish.

To prepare topping, place brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter in food processor and pulse until mixture resembles pea-sized clumps. Scatter topping evenly over batter.

Bake until topping is a rich golden-brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove and cool 10 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.