Christmas Cranberry Buckle

By á-4020

Ingredients

• For the Spiked Candied Fruit
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped candied orange peel
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped Australian Crystallized Ginger, such as Williams-Sonoma
• 1 tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier®
• For the Sugar Cookie Streusel
• 3/4 cup (90 to 94 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons (75 to 80 grams) granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons (85 grams) salted butter, cut into bits
• For the Cake
• 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for cake pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon (3.6 grams) kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated whole nutmeg
• 10 tablespoons (about 141 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, 1 medium lemon
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs (mine weighted 112 grams w/o shells), room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups (14 ounces/about 350 grams) fresh cranberries, rinsed & dried
• Shortening or favorite cooking oil, for greasing cake pan
• For the Sugar Topping
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• Special Equipment
• One 9-inch round nonstick springform pan
• Two insulated cake strips, such as Wilton® Small Bake Even Strips (Set of 2)
• Cake Lifter, helpful but not necessary

Preparation

Step 1

Preparation

Prepare the Spiked Candied Fruit: In a small bowl, combine candied orange peel, crystallized ginger and orange liqueur. Cover and let stand for several hours or overnight at room temperature.

Prepare the Sugar Cookie Streusel: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Set aside.

Arrange oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350º F. Grease 9-inch round nonstick springform pan with shortening and dust with flour, tapping out the excess. If using insulated cake strips, don’t forget to prepare the pan per manufacturer’s directions with the exception of using two (as shown in the article above). Set aside.

Prepare the Cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices until well combined. Using an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer and large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add lemon zest and vanilla; beat until combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition on medium speed scraping sides and bottom of bowl as necessary. (Mixture may look slightly separated. Don’t worry. It will pull together with the addition of flour.) Add flour gradually while mixing at low speed until mixture is just blended. Do not overmix. (Batter will be thick and very heavy.) Using rubber spatula, carefully fold in spiked candied fruit and cranberries until distributed evenly.

Using rubber spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan. With spatula, spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth the top. Use hand to clump portions of streusel by squeezing and use fingers to sprinkle small clumps of streusel evenly over top of batter. Repeat process with remaining streusel.

Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Remove cake from oven and place on wire cooling rack. Immediately, sprinkle sugar over the top of cake and run thin metal icing spatula around edge of pan to loosen cake from sides of pan. This will prevent the cranberries from sticking to the sides of pan and will make removing easier. Cool for 15 minutes.

To Unmold Cake: If using, remove insulated cake strips. Unmold cake by removing sides of pan. Cool until just warm or to room temperature, about 1 hour. Slice into wedges and serve.