Cranberry Orange Loaf with Sage and Candied Orange Peel

If you recall, just a couple of weeks back, Jim and I hung out at a cranberry farm a couple of hours north of Toronto.

This included wading into a bog filled with ripe, floating cranberries. It was such a hoot.  I could feel the cold of the water, but thankfully those waders worked and soon I was having so much fun plodding along in a sea of cranberries. We came home with over 4 lbs of fresh cranberries, cranberry jelly, and local maple syrup.  A good haul.  So here is the first thing that I decided to make with the berries.

This is basically a riff on my blueberry lemon loaf.  Except this time around I am using fresh cranberries.  And orange zest and juice instead of lemon.  And instead of fresh thyme in the batter, I decided to throw in some sage.  I already knew that sage works great in cranberry baked goods (see the Cranberry Sage Pie from a few years back)  I had the fresh sage in the fridge, and just love the idea of adding a hint of something savoury into the moist sweet batter.

To bring out some more of the orange essence, I decided to add some orange blossom water. If for some reason you can’t find orange blossom water, no worries, it will still taste amazing.  I have ensured that orange shows up as much as is humanly possible!

The process for this cake starts with the garnish: the candied orange peel.  You see, once you have finished with this part, you can store them till needed in a sealed container.  Plus, to bring out the orange presence, I want to use the orange sugar as part of the sugar needed for the batter.  So don’t leave this little garnish out.  Plus, they are just so darn cute on top of the glaze.  Speaking of glaze, there is orange juice in it.  So definitely, orange is getting a moment with this cake/loaf.

But don’t worry, the cranberries still shine.  I was worried about adding more than a cup of the fresh berries, since they are tart, and you will get a juicy pop when you bite into one.  I didn’t have to worry.  They play so well against the sweetness of the batter and the glaze.

Seriously, this cake is so easy to whip up.  Only bowls and spoons are needed.  Oh, and a bar zester if at all possible.  I’ll add a photo of one, for your reference.  If you don’t have one, then when you are getting ready to prep the candied orange peel, use a very sharp knife and slice off sections of the skin, trying to avoid any of the bitter white pith.  Then with the knife, cut the section into very thin strips.  This will mimic what a bar zester will do.

You can use a microplane to get the rest of the orange zest for the batter.  But that is it for strange tools.  All you will really need is a wooden spoon and a rubber spatula.  

A fun garnish is slicing the cranberries in half, revealing their inner hollow air chambers.  Sprinkle these onto the glaze along with the candied orange peel, and let the glaze completely set before slicing into the cake.  I keep calling it a cake.  Is it a cake or is it a loaf?  Does it matter?!

You’ll love how easily this little beauty comes together.  It freezes great if you want to freeze one or half.  It can easily be turned into muffins or even a bundt cake.  This is great as breakfast, perfect for morning coffee break, or makes a dandy midnight snack!  And if you don’t want to glaze it, that’s quite all right.  But the glaze is pretty fabulous.

btw, Jim says it’s better than Starbucks loaf slices.  So I’m good.  (I knew it was, just great to hear him say it!)

Happy colours for autumn.  Have a good one everyone!

Love Jen

5 from 1 vote

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Cranberry and Orange Cake with Sage and Candied Orange Ribbons

A moist, tender orange scented cake is the base for fresh cranberries and chopped sage. Orange also shows up as candied ribbons for a garnish. This will take you from breakfast to afternoon breaks.

Course Baking

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

Candied Orange Ribbons

• 2 oranges , washed
• 1 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup

Cranberry and Orange Cake

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped sage packed
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup white granulated sugar , start with the remaining orange sugar from the candied orange ribbons above to make up this amount
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbsp or more grated orange zest from one large orange
• 1/2 tsp orange blossom water , optional
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup fresh cranberries , washed and dried
• 1 tbsp flour

Glaze

• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp fresh cranberries

Instructions

Candied Orange Ribbons

1. Using a bar zester or vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the orange in vertical strips, trying to leave as much of the bitter white pith behind.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the peels with 2 cups of cold water and bring to a boil. Immediately drain, refill the pan with water, bring to a boil and drain again. Repeat this process three times to remove the bitterness from the peel. After the third dunking remove the peels from the pan and set aside. (if using ribbons created by a bar zester, you will only need to go through this process once)
3. Measure 1 cup of the sugar into a saucepan, and add 1/2 cup of water. Set over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Drop in the peels, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until the peels are tender and translucent. Drain and cool the peels. Keep the syrup for pouring over the cake.
4. Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl and add the peels. Toss with your fingers until the peels are thoroughly coated. Remove one peel at a time shaking off the excess sugar. Place on a clean plate until needed.
5. Reserve the unused sugar (even if there are orange bits in it) for when baking the cake- you will need a total of 3/4 cup of granulated sugar for the cake, start with this batch for measuring.
6. Store any unused orange peel in an airtight container. Keeps for several weeks in an airtight container.

Cranberry and Orange Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, so that it overhangs the long sides by about an inch on either side. Spray with non-stick spray on all four sides.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the sage and toss to coat evenly with the flour.
3. In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together the yogurt, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs and orange zest.
4. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. With a rubber spatula, fold the olive oil into the batter, making sure it’s completely incorporated. At first it may seem to resist, but slowly keep at it, it will meld, I promise.
6. Toss the cranberries and flour in a small bowl, to coat well. Add to the batter and fold in gently with a spatula.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the centre of the loaf comes out clean. The size of your pan will affect baking times. I often find I am baking this for a good 55-60 minutes. But start checking after 50 minutes.
8. Once out of the oven, let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, on a cooling rack.

9. After 15 minutes, take a wooden skewer and poke holes randomly all over the cake. Go about 2/3's of the way in. Using a small spoon, take the remaining orange simple syrup from the candy-ing proccess and pour slowly over the cake, allowing the syrup to flow down the holes. I use about 3-4 tbsp.

Glaze

1. To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Whisk in the orange juice and the milk, and mix until smooth. You can add more sugar for a thicker glaze or if you would like more.
2. Remove the cake from the pan using the overhanging parchment paper. Place the cake on the cooling rack set over a wax paper or parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Pour the glaze slowly over the cake and then garnish with the orange ribbons and fresh sliced cranberries.