Cranberry-Orange Loaf
Can’t stay long-just wanted to pop in and thank you all for your birthday wishes, and let you know I made it through the day. I’m now firmly fused to the couch, box of frozen profiteroles in hand (breakfast and dinner – if what I’m eating now counts as dinner? – perfectly acceptable on your birthday, don’t you think?) and watching The Office. Bliss. My only regret is not having some warm chocolate sauce to dunk these babies into.
I didn’t make it through the day unscathed; I have a few minor burns up one arm and a partially severed left thumb (really it’s not that bad-one of those slices that’s mostly fingernail and only part finger) and a maimed right thumb-the result of ramming the metal tab on the seal of a balsamic vinegar bottle under my thumbnail. I have in fact damaged both opposable thumbs at the same time. I did it while frantically trying to feed 300+ at a Napa Valley wine event this evening- I didn’t actually sever a finger this morning on BT when I got to channel my inner Julia; that was all corn syrup and food colouring. (Sorry, I didn’t get it on tape. Maybe it’ll make the best of BT tomorrow morning?) At least the gore is in keeping with the spirit of the season.
I was hardly home for half an hour today – only long enough to change and reload between events. I didn’t cook anything in my own kitchen, but before I go to bed I’ll pull out a cranberry-orange loaf I made earlier in the week for our Halloween festivities tomorrow. Does that count? I think everyone should know how to make a cranberry-orange loaf. This one is from Eric Akis’ new book, Everyone Can Cook- for Celebrations. He got it from his friend Elizabeth. I like that it’s packed with cranberries and makes use of only 1/4 cup of butter. It doubles well – so you can eat one and freeze the other for the same amount of work.
Elizabeth’s Cranberry-Orange Loaf

Preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 9"x5" loaf pan with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter until the mixture is evenly crumbly. (Idea: you could do this in the food processor, and make dry mixes in advance to keep in the freezer; add the egg, juice and berries when you want to bake it!)
Add the egg, zest and juice and stir until almost combined; add the cranberries and raisins and stir just until the batter comes together.
Spread into the pan and bake for about an hour, until the top is springy to the touch.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 9"x5" loaf pan with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter until the mixture is evenly crumbly. (Idea: you could do this in the food processor, and make dry mixes in advance to keep in the freezer; add the egg, juice and berries when you want to bake it!)
Add the egg, zest and juice and stir until almost combined; add the cranberries and raisins and stir just until the batter comes together.
Spread into the pan and bake for about an hour, until the top is springy to the touch.
And for Free Stuff Friday – a copy of the book! Any edible plans for Halloween tomorrow?
(I just noticed the image is in reverse. I have no idea why-it’s right on my computer. Lets just call it special effects for Halloween.)
One Year Ago: Spider Truffles and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
I plan to eat the pulled pork goulash I made yesterday in the crockpot and since I stocked up on fresh cranberries after thanksgiving I’ll for sure have to make this loaf. Yumm! Happy Hallowen
where on earth did you find a box of frozen profiteroles? please tell me you didn’t whip them up and freeze them yourself… =)
Happy Halloween!! Lots of food stuff going on over here for halloween! Last night I made a pumpkin cake (I’ve had a pumpkin pan for 2 years now and finally used it this year) that turned out spectacular, although I should mention my hands were cramping like CRAZY from piping a million little stars with my #16 tip! This morning I’ve got some chili going. The pumpkin and chili are to bring to our Yearly Neighborhood Halloween Party! Everyone in our cul-de-sac is very excited for it! My 1, 2 and 3 year olds will all be pumpkins this year (I figured it’s probably the only year I can get away with dressing them all the same) and my boys can’t wait to get their costumes on (it’s not even 8am LOL),
Have a WONDERFUL halloween!
Hmmmm, well I’m making french onion soup for lunch, and beef & broccoli for dinner.
And I already ate all the Halloween candy. Oops.
Happy belated birthday Julie. I hope you received your gift from Jay Leno – an interview with John Cusack.
Our Halloween feast includes Swamp Soup (broccoli), Shrek snot (green food colouring in cream corn), bat wings (chicken) & earth fingers (oven fries). I’ve devoured all the witch finger shortbread so dessert is cancelled. That should feed my 5 y.o Bride-zilla & 8 y.o. Real Estate Agent before we head off to watch the Olympic torch relay it’s way through town.
Happy haunting.
my halloween feast usually means eating my own weight in individual sized choc bars!
happy birthday you busy thing.
love love love the blog
🙂
We’re having grilled chicken salad because it goes well whether hot, warm or cold with the constant doorbell ringing.
I am glad the rain will be holding off after all. Drippy princesses and ghosts are such a sad sight.
Enjoy the parade past your door!
I’m making a nice (and easy) fall soup – 1 butternut squash, 2 pears, 3 apples, covered with chicken stock, cooked down to mush, served with a dollop of cream and a drizzle of maple syrup. Yum.
This year, we somehow managed to get to Halloween without opening the boxes of giveaway treats. It’s a Halloween miracle!
Yumm.
I just made cranberry orange scones! Great minds think alike, I guess. Check out my recipe:
http://www.teenculinarian.blogspot.com
Thanks Julie,
L
Blood soup aka borscht 🙂
So sorry to hear about your injuries. Hope they heal fast.
My husband says I don’t need another cookbook so count me out of the FSF draw. (My name is Kathy and I’m a cookbook-aholic!)
Our Halloween plans include dinner and a movie, we don’t do the candy thing & don’t have kids so….
An energy bar should be good enough to keep me going through the night. I will be out with my nephews and niece trick or treating tonight!
Since we’re all home in various stages of the flu we’ll be trick or treating inside. Bison & Barley Soup and cornbread for T & I and green spaghetti, meatballs and homemade rice krispie squares for the kids.
Non-edible plans: making slime and if all goes well bouncy polymer balls (fun with Borax) 🙂
Okay – I am in for the cookbook – in spite of the dubious looking blue turkey!
Dinner will probably be left over pizza and salad, and running for the doorbell!
Happy birthday and quick healing wishes to you, Julie!
Dinner tonight will be leftovers.
Yesterday I made bread and one of the loaves became pizza crust. It was a much softer crust than our usual pizza dough recipe. So leftover ham & pineapple pizza.
I also made your Potato Leek Soup (aka V…)
There are 1 or 2 servings left – whoever eats it tonight will be safe from vampires. If you chose the max garlic option (4 cloves),it is very potent. (but yummy) Next time I’ll try the minimum (2 cloves).
Sorry ’bout your cuts and owies. Ya’ think maybe something out of this world’s trying to get you to slow down a bit? Skeery thought, eh? I’m trying a new recipe tonight for Chicken Pot Pie Soup and we’re handing out sweet treats. The big guy’s trying to figure out where he can hide so he can terrify the neighbor’s kids – I’m thinkin’ if he eats too much of the soup, he’ll be a little difficult to hide. LOL
The hubs and his band do a Halloween show every year (tonight is the tenth anniversary!) so I need something both lightish and, well, alcohol-soaking for him. I’ve got too much flour for my bin to hold right now, so it’ll probably be pizza w/ pineapples & bacon on one half (for him) and artichokes & capers on the other.
People in Australia don’t really celebrate Halloween, but my daughter knows about it from her cousins in the US, so I made her (and us!) a batch of Halloween cupcakes.
I’ll probably be eating a bunch of halloween candy and some roasted pumpkin seeds after the pumpkin carving-fest tonight.
making sri lankan chicken curry from the whitewater cookbook and naan (love your recipe julie!). couple of friends coming over for a bit of a south asian potluck. going to hand out candy, watch ‘v for vendetta’ and drink royal floats. yum! probably end up eating some candy too. went all out this year and bought full size candy bars for the kids…god i hope they don’t start texting each other and we suddenly get a posse of teenagers at the door! in the meantime, need to figure out how to tape the afro wig onto my black lab…
LOL, I was wondering why someone would have a blue turkey on the cover of their cookbook.
Happy belated birthday. I hope your owies heal soon.
I’ll probably be at the office tonight (yay! – not), so din-din will most likely be something out of the freezer.
Dinner out! Yay. I think we are having pepper steak, some sort of salad and garlic bread. Whatever, it will all be good. Good food, good friends.
Cranberry & Orange is one of my most favourite combinations. Making this tomorrow!
Nachos while I hand out candy tonight. Nothing exciting but oh so yummy!
Happy Halloween Julie!
mmmmmmm! I want 10 of these loaves in my kitchen right now!
Happy belated birthday JUlie. MY husband chopped a good chunk of his thumb off too a couple of weeks ago, helping me make dinner. /don’t tell him I told you but I think he had had tooooo much wine. Hope you heal quickly. Dinner tonight is huge cinnamon bun. So proud of me self took a bread making course today, and we made them and a pile of buns so fun and easy. Came of the diet to try one. Gotta tell ya I have lost 19 lbs God knows how I will do in Jasper in a weeks time but gonna try not to gain more than a couple of pounds. Wish me luck with all the wine they have before dinner.
I hope you had a WONDERFUL birthday!!!! We are all sick – but my husband made crock-pot chili so we wouldn’t go hungry. A nice surprise and yummy. My 5 year old was literally bouncing and banging his way thru the house with his sugar rush!!!!
I am having marinated chicken, steamed broccoli, and some brown rice. Nothing fancing, but hits the spot.
We had Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, and corn and salad. For desert?…..well, let’s see what’s left over from Halloween!
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I hope your thumbs are better soon – I can’t believe the schedule you keep! Happy Halloween!
Ouch! I just sliced the tip of one of my fingers off a couple weeks ago. Dagnabbit it hurts! For the first week I used one of those metal fingertip protectors you can get at the store just to make it so I wouldn’t scream out in pain every time my finger bumped something. Good luck with your thumb(s). And a very happy happy birthday to you too.
It was my birthday here as well so dinner was your lovely little lamb kebabs with tzaziki and mini pitas! Perfectly delicious pre-chocolate feast food!
Hope you had a great day for your birthday and an awesome Halloween!
Happy Birthday again!
We went to a Halloween potluck party with kids and parents, so ate the usual casseroles, veggies and dip, chips and salsa, homemade bread, and themed desserts..ghost cookies, orange, brown and yellow Reeses pieces, fudge, cake with orange sprinkles…
Honestly,
2:45 the trick or treaters started coming! Supper for Halloween was left over roast beef chopped and smothered in leftover gravy……….. all on toasted french bread. Baked potatoes, coleslaw and spaghetti squash (that last one gave the girls a fright on Halloween 😉 )
We got rained out by 7:30 so we didn’t see many kids.
Homemade profiteroles are VERY easy to make,and store in the freezer for surprise guests. I can pass on my recipe for anyone who wants it.
I have everything in the house to make this loaf, but I don’t have oranges. I have lemons. I’ll make lemon-cranberry loaf! 🙂
Thank goodness you don’t need thumbs to eat profiteroles! The loaf and scones look scrumptious, can’t wait to try them. I made chili in the slow cooker on Halloween, hoping I could fill up the kids with some protein before they got their hands on all that candy. We had 150 kids come to the door, so thankfully no chocolate leftovers for me!
yum. favorite flavor combination–I think I shall make this and eat it all week for my own breakfast. is that cheating? I’m gonna do it anyway.
This loaf looks delicious. I’m going to a family cottage for Thanksgiving this weekend and I’m going to double this recipe and bring it for the group for breakfast, lunch, snacking, etc. Thanks!
You really make it appear so easy along with your presentation however I in finding this topic to be actually one thing that I believe I’d by no means
understand. It sort of feels too complicated and extremely large for me.
I am taking a look forward to your next put up, I will attempt
to get the grasp of it!
Look into my blog … search engine