Christmas Bread in February

In December, I buy bags of fresh cranberries.  They are beautiful, those red, shiny berries, looking like Christmas decorations in the produce department.  I can't pass by without putting a bag or two in my cart.  What doesn't get used right away, gets tossed in the freezer.  They last a long time. 

I make my own cranberry sauce (it's so easy) and use the others in a  variety of baked goods.  I adore the fresh, tart taste of cranberries.  Just in case, like me, you find yourself with some extra cranberries to use, today I'm going to share a recipe for one of my favorite holiday breads (you know, one of those breads that should really be called cake), using fresh cranberries and other dried fruits of your choice.  This is the closest thing to fruit cake that I make, that doesn't taste like fruit cake.  There's no candied fruit in this, just lots of cranberries, dried fruit and nuts.  Toasted with butter, it makes a fine breakfast, or a little slice with a glass of milk, hot chocolate or hot tea serves as a great afternoon pick me up. 

Dry ingredients go in a big bowl, along with fresh orange zest.

Four beautiful fresh eggs go in a second bowl, along with milk and melted butter.

I made a well in the dry ingredients and poured the wet into the dry.  All of this comes together with hand mixing.

The fun part is deciding what goodies I want to use in the bread.  I use pistachios if I can, because hello, green nuts and red berries just scream Christmas.  Sometimes I use a mix of pistachios and walnuts or pecans.

I especially love dried apricots, so I always use those.  You can also use dried cherries, pineapple, figs or currants.  Really, any dried fruit works.

Naturally, the star of the show is the fresh cranberries, chopped in the food processor, to make easy work of it.

Gently fold in the fruit and nuts and stir.  Pour into greased loaf pans.  I usually make two large loaves, but this would make great mini loaves too.

What do you think?  Is that not lovely?  And it tastes good too!

Cranberry Orange Loaf

4 cups unbleached plain flour

2 cups sugar

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

2 t. fresh orange zest

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pistachios (or both!)

1 cup chopped, dried fruit - choose your favorites

apricots, dates, figs, currants,etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease pans with baking spray.  

In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir in

orange zest.  Make a well in center of flour mixture.  Set aside.

In medium bowl, beat eggs with a fork; stir in milk and butter.

Add egg mixture to flour mixture.  Stir until moistened.  Fold in

fruits and nuts.  Spoon into 2 large loaf pans.  Bake 65-70 minutes,

covering with foil for last 15 minutes.  Cool on wire rack for 10

minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool completely.