Cranberry Bread with White Chocolate Glaze

Dec

19th

You know why I made Cranberry Bread with White Chocolate Glaze? Not because it is festive (although it is), or because cranberries and oranges are complimentary flavors (although they are). I made it because I was desperate.

I am at my parents’ house in Wisconsin for the holidays, and it is nearly impossible to blog most days. It’s cloudy and/or snowing every day so the lighting is terrible. Instead of my massive, sprawling SoCal kitchen, I am using my mom’s kitchen. It’s not bad, but it’s not mine. I don’t have my usual pantry or gadgets, and I don’t have my quiet, peaceful routine. There are distractions everywhere. Every day I scramble to find something to make with what we have on hand. And guess what? We had all the stuff on hand to make Cranberry Bread with White Chocolate Glaze.

Even more surprising? It’s actually pretty good. Yeah, I’d make it again, especially the glaze. I’d probably just make the glaze and eat it with a spoon. I might also use it to frost cookies. Which reminds me, I’m having a Baking Day with my sister-in-law today, so I’m going to wrap up this post and get on my way.

Thanks for listening.

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ c. flour
• ¾ c. sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ c. dried cranberries
• ¾ c. + 1 T. half-and-half, divided
• ½ c. butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. orange zest
• ¼ c. orange juice
• 1 oz. white chocolate, chopped
• ¼ c. powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat the bottom of a 9” x 5” bread pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in cranberries.

In a small bowl, combine ¾ c. half-and-half, butter, eggs, orange zest, and orange juice. Add to dry ingredients in 3 parts, stirring after each addition until ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen and invert onto a cooling rack set over a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, combine white chocolate, the remaining 1 T. half-and-half, and ¼ c. powdered sugar in a small bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and stir, heating a little longer if required to melt. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.

Pour over cooling cake, letting excess glaze fall through the cooling rack to the baking sheet below. Cool completely.

Number of servings (yield): 12

I am a mother and the recipe developer behind Culinary Hill. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but now I find inspiration every day in my Southern California kitchen.