Cranberry, Orange and Almond Breakfast Cake

This past Sunday, I woke up to a cold and blistery day. The wind was howling at 40+ miles an hour and large rain drops were pounding on the windows. Since it was a rare lazy Sunday when I didn’t have anything to do, I decided to whip up a nice breakfast cake to start the day off right.

I had some cranberries in my freezer from Christmastime and thought it was about time I put them to use. I also had some oranges and almonds left over from other baking adventures, and flipped through my recipes to find the perfect way to marry all these things together.

I finally landed upon a recipe for this Cranberry, Orange, and Almond cake that I saved in my files years ago. As I was making it, the smells of orange and vanilla fumigated my whole kitchen, and I couldn’t WAIT for this cake to come out of the oven!

This cranberry cake is filling enough to be served for breakfast and sweet enough to be served as a dessert. The cranberries burst with a delicious tartness that’s matched with the sweetness of the orange…and it goes perfectly well with a cup of tea, a good book, and a rainy Sunday morning.

Cranberry, Orange, and Almond Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sliced raw unsalted almonds
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup regular butter, melted and cooled (a stick and a half)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 orange
• Juice of 1/2 an orange
• 12 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries (1 1/2 cups)

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Grease a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. Combine almonds, 2 tablespoons butter, and brown sugar in a bowl.  Mix to combine.  Place in refrigerator until ready to use (this is the topping to your cake).
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Mix to combine.
4. Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl on medium high speed until mixture is lighter in color and has increased in volume, about 5 minutes.
5. Turn mixture to low and slowly add butter.  Turn mixture to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes.
6. Add vanilla, zest, and orange juice and mix to combine.
7. Slowly fold in half of the flour mixture into the egg and sugar mixture.  Once it’s combined, fold in the rest of the flour.
8. Dust cranberries with 2 tablespoons flour, if desired.  This will help suspend your cranberries in the cake so they don’t sink to the bottom.  Once they’re lightly coated, fold them into the cake batter.
9. Pour batter into your prepared pan and top with the refrigerated almond mixture.  Bake on middle rack for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.  If your cake looks done around the edges but still needs to cook because the batter is wet in the middle of the cake, simply cover the cake with aluminum foil and let bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until your cake is done.
10. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Every Monday is a “Reci-bee” post, where I share my favorite recipes, recipe collections, and cooking and baking hints and tips.