Orange Cranberry Loaf

(This one is actually original. However, I did adapt it from a pound cake recipe from Cook's Illustrated.)

Makes 4 mini loaves (or probably 1 regular sized loaf).

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter (melted)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest*
2 teaspoons orange juice*
4 large eggs
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon orange extract
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a smallish bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Melt butter in microwave. Whisk melted butter thoroughly to reincorporate milk solids.

In food processor, process sugar and zest until combined, about 5 1-second pulses. Add juice, eggs, vanilla, & orange extract and process until combined, about 5 seconds. With machine running, add melted butter through feed tube in a steady stream. Transfer to batter bowl. Sift flour mixture over lizuid in 3 steps, whisking gently after each addition.

Pour a little batter into the pan to form a base. Then add cranberries to remaining batter and pour into pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, then lower to 325 for 30 minutes.


*I usually use zest and juice fresh from a single orange. However, there is the jarred orange peel and juice from a carton as an alternative.