Harvested between mid-September and early November, cranberries have been on holiday tables in some form or another since Colonial Times. The Pilgrims were introduced to cranberries by the Wampanoag people in New England. Most likely, this early cranberry dish was a mixture of dried cranberries and meat called pemmican. Amelia Simmons, in 1796, suggested serving turkey with boiled onions and cranberry sauce in her American Cookery recipe book.
By the time the Civil War came around, cranberries were a side dish staple. In 1912, a lawyer turned cranberry farmer named Marcus L. Urann first concocted a commercial cranberry sauce recipe to preserve, use imperfect berries, and extend the shelf life of this seasonal, easily spoilable fruit. Ocean Spray, later in 1941, began jellying the sauce that makes the sucking sound when slid out of its iconic ringed can. Slice and serve! (My Tangy Homemade Cranberry Sauce recipe is here.)
Cranberries are harvested in two ways–dry and wet harvesting. Only about 5% of the fresh berries taken out of bogs are dry harvested. Once hand-picked and time consuming, fresh cranberries are now picked and bagged using special equipment. The rest of cranberry crops are wet harvested using the iconic method of flooding a bog with water and watching the red berries rise to surface. These cranberries are used in juice, sauce, and dried forms. The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association has everything you might want to know about this tart fruit.
Just like salt-n-pepper, pb-n-j, or mac-n-cheese, the flavors of cranberry and orange go together perfectly. This Orange Glazed Cranberry Quick Bread pairs the two together in a moist, slightly sweet loaf using fresh cranberries. Each bite of this tender treat has a tart burst of our national seasonal fruit. While you can easily eat this bread by itself, the orange glaze really tops it off. Don’t glaze over the glaze! Bad puns intended! Give this as a neighborly gift, or gift your gut with a loaf. Seasons eatings!
PrintOrange Glazed Cranberry Quick Bread
Looking for a quick, flavorful gift to give? Orange Glazed Cranberry Quick Bread is loaded with tart and tangy cranberries surrounded by a moist, slightly sweet crumb and crowned with simple orange-powdered sugar glaze. This elegant looking loaf also goes great with morning coffee or afternoon tea.
Ingredients
For Cranberry Orange Bread:
1–1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (table, kosher or sea)
1/4 cup milk (2% or whole)
1 tsp. fresh orange zest, about 1 medium oranges
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup fresh cranberries, washed and dried
1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
For Orange Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. orange juice, plus extra to reach desired consistency
1 tsp. fresh orange zest
Instructions
To Make Cranberry Orange Bread:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8-1/2 by 4-1/2 inch loaf pan* with nonstick-flour cooking spray. Set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine milk, orange zest, juice, and vanilla. Set aside. Using a hand-held or standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until combined. Mixture will not be completely smooth. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Starting with the flour mixture, and alternating with the juice mixture, add to the butter in 2 portions on low speed until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Toss the cranberries with the 1/2 tbsp. flour to combine. Stir into the batter to evenly distribute. Pour and spread into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Remove from oven and allow bread to rest in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out on to the rack to cool completely.
While bread is cooling, prepare Orange Glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, orange juice and zest. Glaze should be thick enough to pour off a spoon in wide ribbons. Thin out the glaze with additional orange juice, or thicken it with additional powdered sugar. Pour glaze over the cooled bread. Glaze should set within an hour. Store glazed bread in an air-tight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
*Want different sizes? Mini-loaf pans: Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean. Muffins: Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
IMNPB
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