Cranberry Orange loaf / Cranberry Orange pound cake
This Cranberry Orange bread loaf is an extremely moist yet light and crumby cake with a beautifully fresh orange flavor. Cranberries are strewn all over the cake to give that delicious contrast flavor combination of sour, tart and sweet.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Orange zest
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed Orange juice without pulp No need to filter out every small bit of pulp, just make sure to not get pulp while squeezing the juice
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour sift & measure using the spoon and level method as mentioned below or use pre sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream regular
- 1.25 cup cranberries
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour to toss cranberries
Orange Glaze
- ¾ cup confectioner's sugar powdered white sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Prep :
- Preheat the Oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Butter should be at room temperature. Leave the butter out on the counter for around 1 hour to 1 ½ hour (time that takes depends on the temperature of your kitchen).
- Zest orange using a zester and then cut it in half to squeeze the juice with your hand without the pulp.
- Leave the eggs, sour cream and cranberries on the counter along with butter to bring them to room temperature.
Mix :
- Using a handheld or stand mixer(paddle attachment) beat the room temperature butter until creamy for around a minute. Now add granulated sugar and cream the sugar and butter on medium speed for around 3 to 4 mins until thick and creamy.
- Now add eggs, one by one, mixing after each one until well combined.
- Then add Orange Zest, Vanilla extract, Orange juice, and mix once until well incorporated.
- Now in a different bowl, mix the dry ingredients together which are 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. Note: It is very important to measure the flour using the 'Spoon and Level Method'. It means to use a spoon to fill your measuring cup with flour and use the back of a knife to level off the flour on the top. DO NOT scoop the flour directly from the bag using the measuring cup.
- Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix at low speed for a few seconds, ONLY until well combined. DO NOT OVERMIX the batter as this will result in a dense cake.
- Now add the sour cream and fold it into the batter only until just combined.
- Finally, toss the 1 ¼ cup cranberries in 1 tablespoon of flour in a bowl to coat them with flour and then fold them into the prepared batter. (Tossing them with flour ensures that they don't sink down to the bottom of the pan ).
- Grease a 9*5 inch loaf pan, line with parchment paper, and grease the parchment paper again. Pour the prepared batter into the pan.
Bake :
- Bake the cake for about 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. To make sure the top middle part is cooked well without getting the loaf too brown, cover the loaf with aluminum foil loosely over the top for the last 10 to 15 mins ( after around 50 to 55 mins of baking) once you got the golden brown top. This helps the top middle part to bake well without getting it too brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 to 15 mins before removing it onto a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing.
Glaze :
- Whisk together all the glaze ingredients ( powdered sugar, orange zest, orange juice and vanilla extract ) until well combined.
- Pour the glaze on the finished & cooled bread by placing it in a flat surface like a cooling rack with a plate under it or just a flat tray.
Notes
- Do not try to melt the butter to make it quick, as that will reduce the aeration in your end product which will result in a dense cake.
- DO NOT zest the white part of the peel when you are zesting the orange as it will give a bitter taste.
- Room temperature ingredients makes sure all the ingredients are mixed well easily, thus avoiding overmixing of the ingredients (which results in a dense cake).
- This cake tastes doubly better after few hours, so if you have time, make it half day before and It tastes really good when chilled.
- For making two loaves, DO NOT double the recipe, Instead make the recipe two times for best results.