Orange Cranberry Cake

I have been baking this festive cake for many years during Christmas. This is a moist and delicious cake bursting with orange flavor, studded with dried cranberries, drizzled with light orange glaze and confectioner's sugar. Serve this cake as dessert with a scoop of orange ice cream or just sip a cup of morning coffee with a slice of this cake. Adding orange liquor to this cake will surely put you in the holiday spirit. Simply leave the liquor out if you don't want to add. 

I baked this cake in a 9 inch round bundt cake pan for 55 minutes. You can use a 9x5 loaf pan instead. The orange flavor is so aromatic during baking. I made orange glaze using freshly squeezed orange juice by boiling till it was reduced by half, then I added confectioner's sugar to that just to make it mildly sweet flavor. I drizzled some over the cake and saved some to drizzle after slicing the cake pieces as needed. The orange juice and dried cranberries are great combination. It's a beautiful festive cake and can be wonderful edible gifts to dear ones! 

Ingredients~
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup butter plus 1/2 tsp to grease the pan
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt 

1 tbsp. orange zest
1 cup dried cranberries
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup cointreau or triple sec(optional) 
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp. powdered sugar

Method~
Arrange the oven rack in the 2nd position from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F(180 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch bundt or a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with butter. Sift flour, salt and  baking powder together. Separate two egg whites and beat until soft peak forms and set aside.  

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. To that mixture add 1 cup orange juice, Cointreau liquor and beat well for 2 minutes . Add 1/2 cup flour at a time to the batter and gently mix until well combined.  Mix orange zest, dried cranberries and 2 tbsp. flour together and add to the cake mixture. Now add egg whites and gently fold into the cake batter. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Run a plastic or silicon knife  around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan. 

While cake is cooling, boil 1 cup orange juice in a small sauce pan over medium heat till it is reduced to half. Let it cool for a while; then add powdered sugar to the juice and stir well until no lumps remains. Drizzle some orange glaze and sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Slice cakes and serve with remaining orange glaze. Store in a covered  container at room temperature up to 3-4 days. Happy Holidays!

Happy Baking!