Cranberry orange cake - country living

12 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
3 Large navel oranges
3½ cup Unsifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Baking powder
½ teaspoon Baking soda
½ teaspoon Salt
1¼ cup Granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 Large eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1½ cup Fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
½ cup Chopped walnuts
1 cup Confectioners' sugar
Candied Orange Peel and Cranberries (recipe follows; opt.)
Fresh mint sprigs and gold ribbon (opt.)

Directions

1. Using a grater, finely grate the rind from 1 orange and set aside.

If making Candied Orange Peel, with vegetable peeler, remove orange part of peel in strips from the remaining 2 oranges. Whether peeled or not, cut all oranges in half and ream in juicer or squeeze to get about 1¼ C juice. Set juice aside.

2. Heat oven to 350'F. Grease and flour a 10-inch Turk's-head mold or tube pan. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat granulated sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in grated orange rind and vanilla until combined.

4. Reduce mixer speed to low and alternately beat in flour mixture and 1 C orange juice (beginning and ending with flour mixture) until batter is smooth. Fold cranberries and walnuts into batter; spoon batter into prepared pan.

5. Bake cake 55 to 60 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 10 minutes.

Remove from pan; cool completely on rack.

6. Meanwhile, in small bowl, with electric mixer or spoon, beat confectioners sugar and 1 T orange juice until well mixed (icing should be smooth and just thick enough to drip from a spoon). If necessary, add more juice, 1 t at a time, to reach desired consistency. Prepare Candied Orange Peel and Cranberries, if desired.

7. Transfer cake to serving plate. Spoon icing over top of cake, allowing it to slowly drip down the side. If desired, top with candied peel and 5 cranberries; decorate with mint sprigs tied with gold rib- bon and remaining 2 cranberries.

Candied Orange Peel and Cranberries: Cut reserved orange-peel strips into ⅛-inch-wide strips. Drop strips into s@all saucepan of boiling water and blanch 1 minute. Drain strips in strainer. Repeat with fresh boiling water to blanch orange strips again. Drain and return strips, plus 7 fresh or frozen cranberries, to sauce-pan. With fork, stir in 1 T sugar and heat until sugar dissolves and coats peel and cranberries. Cool to room temperature.

Country Living/Dec/93 Scanned and fixed by DP and GG

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