Holiday Cakes: Cranberry Orange Loaves w/ Pecans

This is my annual give-away cake since I don't bake Christmas cookies.

I double the recipe then make them in these fabulous paper loaf pans.

It is an easy cake and so delicious.

This year, I added Trader's Joe's dried cranberry raisin mixture to the fresh cranberries and pecans.

These can be made 2 days in advance, they actually get better the next day after baking.
They freeze beautifully too.

Cranberry Orange Loaf w/ Pecans (makes 2 small loaves or 1 big loaf)

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons of softened butter
1/8 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
juice and zest of an orange
1/4 cup of sour cream or creme fraiche
2 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
pinch of kosher salt
handful of pecans
1/3 cup of fresh cranberries (I don't like too many, or it will be too tart)
1/4 golden raisins

Icing:

1 cup of confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp of heavy cream

Mix sugar with butter, eggs, zest, extract and sour cream until nice and creamy.

Add in the dry ingredients slowly, adding in cranberries, nuts and raisins w/ the flour mixture.
Batter will be heavy and sticky.

Using a rubber spatula (or ice cream scoop, my trick), place the batter into greased loaf pan or 2 separate paper loaf pans.

Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 until tops are golden.

Let cool on a rack while you make the icing.

Whisk the powdered sugar and cream with a fork and decoratively drizzle icing over warm cakes.

This is the perfect cake with coffee. Not too sweet and tart from the cranberries.

The perfect Christmas morning snack before opening the presents.

Enjoy.