This has truly been the most frustrating month in terms of work. Especially when this overload starts taking a serious toll on blogging. That's plain wrong. Think we can fix it by getting back to yammering every day or 2? :)
Today's story revolves around that damn sweet tooth :) But I'm quite glad I have Erma on my side to justify a potentially burgeoning waistline! Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
~Erma Bombeck
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A Whole Foods expedition a few weeks ago resulted in some awesome booty which included some delicious satsumas and unsweetened dried cranberries. The idea then was to add these to the batch of granola I was going to make that weekend, but somehow, dried fruits in cereal didn't seem so appealing to me. That coupled with the need for a sugar fix brought out the cookbooks :)
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking - this book could keep me occupied for a few years! It has a fabulous assortment of high fiber recipes - replete with diverse flavours and ingredients. Granted, they do not scrimp on the butter/fat in their recipes, but that is often something that I've found successful ways to work around. This recipe was adapted from a basic orange cake version to include cranberries. The buttermilk makes for a decent alternative when you want to cut back on the butter - mind you, it doesn't always work to maintain the tender moist texture of cakes or breads, but in this one, it did a stellar job!
Orange-Cranberry Cake
Tangy, sweet, tender, moist ... mmm!
Tangy, sweet, tender, moist ... mmm!
Servings: a regular 9 cup bundt cake (16 servings)
Batter
2.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup butter (4 oz)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1.5 cups unrefined sugar
4 large eggs (I went with egg whites instead)
1 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 T freshly grated satsuma zest
Place an oven rack a third of the way up from the bottom and heat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9-cup bundt pan.
Mix together the flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Cream together the butter and sugar in a larger bowl till smooth and fluffy - takes 4-5 minutes with a hand mixer or a KitchenAid, maybe 8-10 minutes if you're using a whisk.
Add the eggs (or egg white portions) one at a time, beating each time till blended.
Now add the flour in - one third at a time, alternating with the milk. Beat this in slowly (just so you aren't covered in a cloud of flour - that's what happened to me the first few times I baked a cake :))
Finally stir in the orange zest and cranberries.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan and level the batter - either with a spoon or you can be more adventurous and slam the bottom of the bundt pan on your counter or on a table till the batter evens out :)
Bake for about 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
Cover with a cooling rack and invert the cake. Remove the pan and cook the cake upside down on the rack.
Glaze
1/2 cup juice from satsumas
2 t freshly grated satsuma zest
1/2 cup sugar
Mix the zest, juice and sugar in a heatproof bowl.
Heat the contents in a microwave for 45-60 seconds so the sugar is dissolved.
Brush the glaze all over the hot cake and let it sink in.
Cool the cake completely before transferring to a serving plate.
Opinion?
*drool*! This cake has been made again already :) Moist, tender, tart cranberries couple perfectly with the sweet-tangy orange flavour. Happy! Very Happy!
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Future variations?
Think I want to try this with some nuts next time around. Maybe even try a lemon version? And maybe throw in some honey or molasses instead of sugar? *so* many options! :)
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Other cakes check out here
