White Chocolate Cranberry Bread |
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Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Minutes |
Ready In: 31 Minutes Servings: 6 |
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This makes the ultimate gift during the holiday seasons, and the ultimate treat at any other time! I believe the flavor combination of white chocolate, orange, and cranberry was popularized by Starbucks, and this is another great version of the combination! Ingredients:
softened butter, for the pan |
all-purpose flour, for the pan |
6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped |
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour |
1/2 teaspoon salt |
1/4 teaspoon baking soda |
3/4 cup sugar |
8 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature |
3 large eggs, at room temperature |
1/2 cup buttermilk |
1 grated orange, zest of |
1/4 cup fresh orange juice |
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract |
1 cup fresh cranberries (not thawed or chopped) or 1 cup frozen cranberries (not thawed or chopped) |
1 cup toasted skinned and coarsely chopped hazelnuts |
1 cup white chocolate chips |
Directions:
1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and tap out the excess flour.
2. Put the chopped white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Place in a skillet of barely simmering water and let stand, stirring often, until melted and smooth; be sure not to get any water in the bowl. Remove from the water and let the chocolate cool until tepid.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer set on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, beat in the eggs, beating well after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the buttermilk, followed by the tepid white chocolate, orange zest and juice, and vanilla. The mixture will look curdled, but don't worry. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture, and beat just until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the cranberries, hazelnuts and white chocolate chips. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
4. Bake until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1-1/2 hours. (This dense, moist cake has a longer baking time than other tea loaves.) Let cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invest the bread onto the wire rack and unmold. Turn right side up and let completely.
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