January 26, 2021

CRANBERRY AND ORANGE DRIZZLE CAKE

During the doldrums between Christmas and New Year I found myself near to Tesco when there were hardly any customers.  I made a quick dash inside and there were punnets of cranberries reduced in price.  They were an irresistible bargain so I swooped.

I had in mind the apple, orange and cranberry cake I made a couple of years ago which was lovely and you can see here.  Then just out of interest I did a bit of internet research and came across this recipe on the Waitrose website and thought I would try that instead.  I also fancied making a Bundt cake.



I am a fan of Bundt cakes and now have a small collection of lovely designs but the one problem with them is that they are all so huge.  They take a lot of mixture so I find myself having to seek out recipes written specially for them.  They also take a lot of eating - a lot of mixture means a big cake, much too big for just the two of us.  We end up with bits of cake filling up the freezer, or very happy neighbours (no bad thing).

When I spotted this tin on the Lakeland website it looked to me like it would work with the quantity of mixture you would put in a regular 8" round tin or a 2lb loaf tin.

I ordered one and it turns out I was right, it's exactly the right size for more normal cake recipes.

I was hoping the design of  the Lakeland tin would produce cakes similar to the beautiful Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt tin (above).  It's the original Bundt tin and I have long admired its sharp angles and elegant lines.  It was a big ask!  But it's a well made tin and will be very useful.

The cake was yummy, had a good orange flavour with the sharpness of cranberries and the background of ground almonds.  I was also rather chuffed that my cranberries didn't sink to the bottom of the cake tin (therefore all ending up at the top of the cake).   

I can see me adapting this recipe for a lemon and blueberry cake, coconut and lime cake, and possibly even a cherry and almond.  It's a keeper for sure.

Ingredients

For the cake

225g softened butter (I used Anchor spreadable)

225g golden caster sugar

4 medium eggs

175 self raising flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

50g ground almonds

zest of 1 large orange

175g fresh cranberries, rinsed and dried

For the drizzle

50g granulated sugar

half of the juice of  the orange*

Method

Preheat the oven to 170° C / 150° fan / gas mk 3.  Grease and line a 900g loaf tin or prepare a 20cm Bundt tin using cake release.

Put all the cake ingredients except for the cranberries into a large bowl and beat until just mixed.  Fold in the cranberries.

Transfer the mixture to the tin, level the top and tap the tin on the worktop a few times to settle the mixture and prevent any air bubbles.  Bake for 50-60 minutes until done.  (Check after 45 minutes as my Bundt cake was done by then.)

Remove from the oven and here instructions differ depending on the tin:

If using a loaf tin, sprinkle the granulated sugar on top, pour the orange juice over and leave to cool in the tin.

If using a Bundt tin, cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack, sprinkle with the granulated sugar and pour over the orange juice.

Cuts into 10-12 generous slices.

* the recipe says to use all of the juice of the orange.  That seemed like a lot to me and I wondered if it might make the cake too soggy - my large orange produced a lot of juice.  So I used just over half of it and the cake was well flavoured with the orange and moist enough.

5 comments:

  1. What an excellent looking cake, Jean! I love adaptable recipes like this one. I had a look for cranberries a couple of weeks ago when I was last in town but sadly found none. Cranberry and orange is a lovely pairing.

    I also love a bundt (my Nordic ware tin is a prized possession) but I usually only make them for occasions since they're so big. I would love more tins but storage is a problem. I could possibly justify a smaller one like the one you've used. Handy to know it suits smaller volumes.

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    1. Hi Jo, I noticed frozen cranberries in the supermarket a while ago, they would work. Or of course, dried ones, but the flavour of those is not quite the same I think.
      I can recommend the tin but I now have to store many of my cake tins in the wardrobe - the kitchen cupboards are full!

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  2. Tried to put this on other blog but it wouldn't let me "Thanks for the heads-up. Sometimes favourite blogs disappear from the radar and I am concerned something sad has happened. Look after yourself, keep safe and well as best you can in these crazy days. I'll miss your pictures of sunny France. I thought of you this week, when I put on my red earrings before I did some recording to camera!"

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    1. Thanks Angela, you have been one of my most loyal followers. Those pictures of sunny France are likely to be back....they're too good not to share! That's part of my plan.....although I haven't quite worked it out yet!

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    2. PS in tinkering with the blog I unintentionally altered the comment settings. IT was never my strong point and never will be!

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