Cranberry Orange Bread
Making Cranberry Orange Bread is one of my favorite holiday traditions. It's an easy quick bread with a crazy light delicate texture, and the unique flavor combination of sweet citrus and tart cranberries.
Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan and line with a sheet of parchment so you can easily lift the bread out for glazing and slicing.
Remove the zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler. A serrated peeler works best for this. You want to remove just the orange part of the peel, with little to none of the bitter white part.
Process the peel and the sugar in a food processor until the peel is very finely ground and the sugar is moist and fragrant, this will only take a minute. Pulse at first, then process.
Rinse, dry, and give the cranberries a very rough chop, it's ok if some of them are whole. Set aside.
Put the orange sugar and butter into a stand mixer and cream until light and fluffy ~ a full 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times. This helps lighten the cake and help it rise.
Beat in each of the eggs, one by one, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Continue beating for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture will become light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice.
Lower the speed of the mixer and mix in the baking poweder and salt. Then add the flour, alternately with the buttermilk, beating just until blended. I like to finish by hand with a silicone spatula.
Fold in the cranberries, then turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top.
Bake on the center rack for 50-55 minutes, or until fully risen and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it (moist crumbs are fine.) If the cake seems to be browning too quickly, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top.
Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove, using the parchment paper handles, and let fully cool on a rack.
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Continue Reading at Theviewfromgreatisland →Chef's Notes
The success of any cake or quick bread is in the details. Make sure your oven is accurate. Make sure you measure correctly. Use the fluff/scoop/level method for measuring flour: fluff up the flour first to loosen it, then scoop it with your cup measure, then lightly level if off with the flat side of a knife or your finger.
To make your own cake flour: for every cup of flour, remove 2 tablespoons and replace with corn starch. Whisk well to combine.
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Reviews from the Original Source
This recipe was very tempting! It was a bit more involved than I expected, but not challenging. :) I made it today using gluten free flour and almond milk mixed with apple cider vinegar (for buttermilk, the ACV has the bacteria to more closely mimic buttermilk). I have tried making cake flour with gluten free flour before, and it did not turn out well. But I went ahead and did it again, and... still not a good result. That cakes have good flavour, but they are dense and greasy on the bottom. The cranberries pretty much sat on top of the loaves. This isn't the recipe's fault, but I thought the info might be useful to other bakers! :) If making this gluten free, I would skip the cake flour and just use regular gluten free flour (mine did not contain xanthan gum).
After making this, I throw out my other recipe! I made this as Christmas gifts and have so many ask me to make them more. It's the best......Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes.
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