25 Days of Christmas: Cranberry Christmas Cake and Japanese Christmas Cake

[sireesanwar]

Yields 2 loaves
One of my absolute favorite things to make at Christmas is the Cranberry Christmas Cake. It is a pound cake. Yes, I've shared this before too. But these are Christmas posts (yes, I'm behind posting) and this is what we like at Christmas.

Needed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cranberries, roughly chopped (fresh or dried)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup unsalted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar, garnish

Make It

1. Preheat oven to 350º F and lightly grease 2 loaf pans.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl or mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy. 4-5 minutes.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Alternate between adding 1/3 cup of dry ingredients and 1-2 tablespoons buttermilk. Begin and end with flour mixture.
6. Gently fold in chopped cranberries and pour batter into loaf pans.
7. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Let cool, then sift powdered sugar on top and enjoy!

I think in the past I've added orange zest to it to make it pop which actually sounds amazing at the moment.

I really wanted to try Japanese Christmas Cake this year. I saw it on Holiday Baking Championship and it sounded amazing. But when I started looking into it; it sounded more complicated than I thought and with a broken foot that I'm supposed to be staying off of it doesn't seem like a good idea.

But if you are interested click the image below... but the measurements are more European/Asia than American. So if you are able to convert it... let me know.




Days Til Christmas: 21