[Recipe] Orange & Cranberry Cake 香橙蔓越莓蛋糕

The long awaited rain finally arrived after a long dry spell, much to everyone’s joy! It’s indeed a pleasure to see the grass and trees coming back to the greens and the air seems purified all of a sudden too ! And probably the talk of the week being the mysterious MH370 that has gone missing and keeping everyone baffled, let’s all pray hard for everyone onboard and may there be only accurate and consistent information that would be transmitted to the ground. There were so much inconsistent reports and rumors that had been spreading like wildfire, particularly on the social network and I reckon it’s not helping the situation at all. And I simply do not understand how spreading of such false information and creating unnecessary alarm will benefit anyone. Grrrr……

And whilst following the news tweets and reports, here’s a nice tea cake to keep you occupied while staying indoors from the heavy downpour.

A rich, luscious old fashion orange and cranberry cake !

So far, this has been a trustworthy recipe that I have kept on for a long time, and even with much modifications, the cake does not lost its stability and is by far the most welcoming pound cake ! And this time, I finally managed to utilize the “long forgotten” cast iron bake-ware that I have bought like since donkey years back.

Though I love the intricate rose design of the bake-ware, but as you can see, it probably doesn’t goes well on cakes with fruits and/or nuts as from the little holes on the surface of the cake.

It’s really a cake that was picked from the sky as I tried to utilize all that I could find to piece it together. Without yogurt, I replaced it with milk. Without lemons, I replaced with it oranges. Without adequate flour, I replaced it with almond meal. And to add on, a couple of our all time favorite nuts, some roasted macadamia as well.

Some icing sugar should do the trick in giving the cake a boast with its presentation, but it so happened that I was left without it, so the plain old fashion cake as it seems. So do remember if you have some ! Sifting them over the cake aids in achieving a better presented cake, however, please do so only when the cake has completely cooled down.

The cake tasted better when it has been left overnight. So do resist the temptation to indulge in it even when it is luke warm. And cutting the cake while it has not cooled completely is really a disaster as what you can see from the picture, with crumbs and fruits falling all out of place.

And while the cool weather continues, I hope it will stay on too. Rainy days are always my favourite days to begin with !

Happy Tuesday !!

Orange & Cranberry Cake

By Eat What Tonight Published: March 18, 2014

• Yield: 1 9-inch bundt cake (12-14 Servings)
• Prep: 30 mins
• Cook: 1 hr 10 mins
• Ready In: 1 hr 40 mins

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking with much modifications http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonCranberryPoundCake.html

Ingredients

• 80 ml orange juice
• 115 g dried cranberries
• 350 g all-purpose flour
• 100 g almond meal
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 227 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 500 g sugar
• 6 pcs eggs
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 200 ml milk
• 2 tbsp orange zest (outer orange skin grated)
• 100 g macadamia nuts (optional) chopped and roasted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Butter and flour (or spray with a vegetable oil and flour spray) a 10 inch (25 cm) bundt pan. If using a dark colored pan, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a small saucepan over medium-high heat; bring the orange juice and dried cranberries to a boil. Cover and remove from heat. Let cool completely and then drain, reserving the cranberries and the juice separately.
   
2. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking soda and salt.
   
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
   
4. Add orange zest, vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
   
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With mixer on low, add 1/3 of flour and almond meal mixture, alternating with the milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating just until batter is smooth. (You will have three additions of flour and two of the milk.)
   
6. Stir in the drained cranberries and macadamia nuts.
   
7. Pour batter into bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake for approximately 60 - 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs.
   
8. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool 5 minutes and then lightly brush the top of the cake with half of the reserved cranberry liquid. After 10 more minutes loosen sides of pan with a sharp knife and invert onto a wire rack. Immediately brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cranberry liquid.
   

• Cuisine: Western
• Course: Dessert
• Skill Level: Beginner

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