Recipe of the Week: Cranberry-Orange Bread, from M.L.

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With cranberries available right now, it is time to buy them and freeze or freeze-dry them for all your wonderful breads and dessert recipes! This is one that our family loves. It’s very easy, and the family expects lots of it available continuously from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. This bread recipe is great to double and then freeze what you don’t eat right away. (Just don’t put icing on what you want to freeze. When it’s time to serve, remove from the freezer, put in the oven or microwave to warm, and then drizzle some icing over the top. The icing isn’t even necessary. This bread is simply wonderful to have on hand when a neighbor drops by; just serve with a cup of coffee or hot tea on a cold wintery day and you’ll “win” your neighbors over!)

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/2 cup butter (or butter flavored shortening)
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 orange, rind grated and then juiced with seeds removed
  • 2 cups frozen cranberries, coursely chopped
  • 1 cup pecans or almonds, chopped (optional)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

  1. Grease and flour two medium bread pans or a tube cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar; set aside.
  3. Cream butter (or shortening) and sugar until fluffy.
  4. Stir in eggs, one at a time; beat until fluffy and airy.
  5. Gently, add buttermilk, vanilla, and orange rind.
  6. Gently stir in flour mixture, just until combined.
  7. Fold in cranberries; also fold in nuts, if you want nuts.
  8. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
  9. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 60-80 minutes, or until done in the middle.
  10. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before removing from the pan.
  11. Let the sweet bread cool.
  12. Combine the orange juice and powdered sugar to make an icing. Drizzle over the top of the bread. Serve.

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