I bought a bag of Dried Cranberries without realising I had a bag of Dried Cranberries in my pantry. I made the old ones into a compote and used the new ones for this cake. I always tend to use Cranberries and Orange together as I believe they are a good match. And again I made this cake based on my ‘Basic Pound Cake’, that is absolutely versatile. Adding extra ingredients to it, you can make endless variations. The cake was delicious. I only regret that I could have used the Cranberry Compote for this cake.

Cake Tin

Standard Loaf Tin

Ingredients

1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
125g Butter *cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature
125g (OR 1/2 cup) Caster Sugar
3 Eggs *about 125g, must be at room temperature
Zest of 1 Orange *finely grated
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier OR 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
125g Self-Raising Flour

Method
  1. Soak Dried Cranberries in warm water for 10 minutes, then drain well.
  2. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a loaf tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.
  3. Beat softened Butter in a mixing bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer until smooth. Add Sugar and beat until creamy.
  4. Add Eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. If the Eggs are not warm enough, the mixture will curdle. If that happens, try to stand the bowl in warm water, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds, then continue beating until the batter becomes smooth and creamy.
  5. Add Orange Zest and Grand Marnier (OR Vanilla), and mix to combine. Gently fold in Self-Raising Flour with a spatula or large metal spoon until just combined. DO NOT over-mix.
  6. Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and smooth the surface. *Note: Spread the middle part thinner and the edges thicker, so that you will have a nice centre crack.
  7. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until cooked through. Stand the cake in the tin for 5 minutes as it is very soft, then turn onto a wire rack to cool.