FRESH CRANBERRY CAKE WITH ORANGE GLAZE

 From Dianaskitchen.com (2011)   No longer available on web. This is terrific.  

Fresh Cranberry Cake with Orange Glaze

•   prep time: 20-30 minutes
• Cook Time 60  minutes

• Ingredients:
• 8 oz. softened butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1 T. finely grated orange zest
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. baking powder
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
•  2 T. all-purpose flour  

• Orange Icing

  • juice of 1/2 orange (3-4 Tablespoons)
  •  1 T. finely grated orange zest
  • 1 T. butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

  Instructions:

  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt cake pan.

  In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl in between adding eggs.  Add the vanilla and orange zest; blend well. 

  In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.  Add half of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture along with the sour cream, beating until blended.  Slowly beat in remaining flour mixture until smooth and blended. Toss the chopped cranberries with 2 T. of flour; stir into the batter.  Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes, then reduce the oven temperatur to 325 degrees. Continue baking for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes.  Invert onto a serving plate to cool completely.  Drizzle orange icing over the cake or dust with powdered sugar. 

  For Icing: 

  Combine juice and orange zerst with butter; stir in sifted confectioners' sugar until desired spreading consistency is reached. Add more juice or sugar as needed. 

  
  

  Bon Appetit!
  

  
  

   
  

   

Mocha Rum Cake from Epicurious

Love, love, love Epicurious recipes.  Always delicious. 

This cake is no exception.  It's in my "personal" dessert cookbook, but I've no idea where it came from.  Likely Gourmet or Bon Appetít. Aha!  Actually, Gourmet, 1994.  From back in the day.

Half a cake is better than none.  OK, a bunch of people ate some before I thought of taking a photo.  It is dense and dark and chocolaty.  Kind of a pain in the butt to make, but most wonderful things require some degree of effort. 

Here is the recipe:

Mocha Rum Cake from Epicurious:

Gourmet Magazine, 1994

Ingredients

   

• cocoa powder for dusting
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped    
• 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup dark rum
• 2 cups strong brewed coffee
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, beaten lightly
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• confectioners' sugar for dusting
• lightly sweetened whipped cream
•  
•  

Preparation

1.  
1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Butter a 4 1/2-inch-deep (12-cup) Kugelhupf or bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder, knocking out excess.  Butter well!

2. In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove chocolate from heat and stir in rum, coffee, and granulated sugar. With an electric mixer beat in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down side, and beat in eggs and vanilla until batter is combined well. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake cake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Let cake cool completely in pan on a rack and turn it out onto rack. Cake may be made 3 days in advance and kept wrapped well and chilled.
1.  

2.     Dust cake with confectioners' sugar and serve with whipped cream.

Notes:  Make sure pan is well-buttered, so cake won’t stick.  I used 3 4oz. bars of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate.  Used a very potent dark rum.  Made instant coffee from Megdalia D’oro expresso.