I made this for the first time last weekend when my in-laws came for brunch. It is very moist and flavorful. I found it in The King Arthur’s Flour Bakers Companion, a big wonderful baking book I bought a few years ago.
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 and ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1 orange, zest and juice (or 1/8 tsp orange oil and ¾ cup orange juice)
¾ cup buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt
1 large egg, beaten
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup cranberries: fresh, frozen, or dried, roughly chopped
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the orange juice and zest, buttermilk, egg, and vegetable oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry in the bowl and mix until evenly combined. Stir in the cranberries and nuts, then pour the batter into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan. Bake the bread for 55-65 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean and the bread starts to pull away from the edges of the pan. Remove it from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then turn it out of the pan to finish cooling. This loaf will slice better if wrapped when cool and left to rest overnight before serving.
When I made this, I used Craisins, dried buttermilk (made with water), pecans, and freshly squeezed orange juice with orange extract.
Enjoy!
