orange cranberry bundt cake | apt 2b baking co

We have done a lot of leaf-peeping this fall. More than any year I can remember, and I am so thankful that we have been able to get out of the city so much. This time leading up to the holidays is always hectic with seasonal work and preparing to take some time off at the end of the year - so that, combined with the fact that our entire neighborhood has turned into a dirty and dusty construction zone has really inspired us to get the heck out of town. Being able to spend lots of time in the cool, clean air and fall colors has been totally revitalizing, and being able to let Arlo run around in the grass and teaching him how to fetch has been so, so fun!

Despite all that good fresh air, and good fall produce - I have been in a bit of a cooking and baking rut. I think it's because I have been doing a lot of recipe development for work and when I am cooking non-dinner food all day (and doing dishes) the last thing I want to do is cook more... This means that I have been buying a lot of produce with good intentions to cook it, but the truth is a lot of it ends up in the compost. BUT the good news is that fall cookbooks have been arriving in my mailbox on the the reg and flipping through them is giving me some major inspiration just in time for Thanksgiving.

This gorgeous seasonal bundt is from Sarah Keiffer's brand new Vanilla Bean Baking Book that comes out tomorrow!! Sarah has always been a source of baking inspiration for me, and her new book is an incredible resource totally packed-full of baking basics and treats with fun twists. Like many of you, my cookbook shelf is groaning under the weight of many, many baking books but this book is truly special. I had the good fortune to test a handful of recipes from this book and they are all stellar. Especially the chocolate chip cookies with crispy edges and yellow cake with chocolate and burnt-honey buttercream.

Bundt cakes are my fave and I'll use any excuse to break out my favorite Nordic ware pan. This one is a classic, dense and covered in gorgeous glaze, but not too sweet thanks to a generous amount of tart fresh cranberries. Its the kind of thing you can make for dessert, but end up eating for breakfast or lunch or every meal until it is gone or you beg one of your friends to take it out of your house. I sung the praises of cranberries for fall and winter baking in my book and I am so glad to see that Sarah loves them too, but I can also see myself swapping in blueberries or raspberries in the summer. I can also see myself baking all the way through this book. Congrats, Sarah!!

And one more thing, US Friends - You all better be voting tomorrow. If you don't know where your polling place is, just head on over to Google and they will direct you to the right spot. VOTE!

ORANGE-CRANBERRY BUNDT CAKE

FROM THE VANILLA BEAN BAKING BOOK by sarah KNIFER

Everyone needs a recipe for a good, all-purpose Bundt cake. I’ve made it here with orange and cranberries, but there is much room for your own interpretation. You can substitute any other small berry for the cranberries, and lemon for the orange. It’s perfect for a casual morning get-together, an elegant brunch, or afternoon snacking all by your lonesome. I make the cake the evening before serving to let the flavors fully develop. makes 8 to 12 servings

3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound (3 sticks, 226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cups (446 g) sugar

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

5 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 heaping cups (227 g) cranberries, fresh or frozen

Confectioners’ Sugar Glaze (see below)

Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and orange zest, and beat together on medium until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and Grand Marnier and mix on low to combine. Add one-third of the flour mixture and mix on low to combine. Add the orange juice and lemon juice and mix on low to combine. Add half the remaining flour and then the heavy cream, beating on low after each addition to incorporate. Add the remaining flour and mix on low until just combined. Add the cranberries and stir with a spatula to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 60 to 75 minutes, until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out with the slightest bit of crumb.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 25 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Top the cooled cake with the Confectioners’ Sugar Glaze (recipe below) and let set before slicing.

CONFECTIONERS’ SUGAR GLAZE

1 1/2 cups (170 g) confectioners’ sugar

2 to 4 tablespoons whole milk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch salt

In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and salt. Add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, to thin the icing to a preferred consistency. For a pure white icing, omit the vanilla.

If you've followed this blog for awhile, you may know that my lovely parents send me a big ol box of quince every October. They are one of my very favorite fall fruits, despite the bit of effort it takes to eat and enjoy them. I love them so much that I even gave them a very special place in the fall chapter in my book. Check out these posts to learn more about quince and see what I've done with them in the past.

Pictured Above: Roasted Quinces from The Violet Bakery Cookbook - This recipe makes beautiful rosy quince that are quite tart, due to the generous amount of lemon juice. When cooked this way the quince hold their shape quite well making them perfect for all sorts of uses.

A note on quince prep - Since quince are super hard to slice I have started to peel them and cut them into wedges before cooking, but I wait until after they cooked to remove the cores. It is much, much easier than doing al of that slicing up front!!

QUINCE TARTE TATIN WITH MAPLE POACHED QUINCES

I learned this general method from David Leibovitz's blog, but have adjusted it just a bit over the years to suit my preferences, and Sam's deliciously spiced Maple Poached Quinces. You'll need enough quince wedges to snuggly cover the bottom of a 9 or 10-inch skillet so you'll have to double or triple the poached quince recipe depending on the size of your fruit. Now, I know not everyone has a steady source of quince in their lives, so I bet you could poach some pears and make this tarte tatin with those instead.

3-4 Maple Poached Quinces (recipe follows), cut into quarters

1 1/4 cups quince poaching liquid

2 tablespoons sugar

pinch salt

1 disc rye pie crust, or your favorite pie crust

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Pour the poaching liquid, sugar, and salt into an oven-safe, 9 or 10-inch skillet and reduce the liquid, swirling the pan occasionally until it is thick and syrupy. You should have about 1/4 cup of liquid left in the pan.

Remove the pan from the heat and line it with the quince wedges, rounded sides down. They should fit snugly in the pan as the slice will settle and shrink a bit while cooking.

On a lightly floured surface roll the dough into a rough circle just under 1/4-inch thick. Trim the circle so it fits snugly into the skillet. Lay the dough over the fruit and tuck in the edges.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the pastry is deep, deep golden brown and cooked through. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool slightly on a rack. Carefully invert the tarte onto a rimmed plate and replace any quince slices that may have gotten stuck to the pan. Serve warm with ice cream.

Maple Poached Quince

adapted from The New Sugar and Spice by Samantha Seneviratne

Sam's original recipe does not call for a vanilla bean, but I love the floral flavor of quince paired with vanilla so I threw a bean into the pot. This recipe makes just a couple of quinces, you'll need a few more for the tarte tatin so multiply accordingly.

1/2 cup maple syrup

6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed

1 vanilla bean

pinch salt

2 cups water

2 medium quince peeled and cut into quarters

In a medium saucepan, combine the maple syrup, cardamom pods, vanilla bean, salt, and water. Add the quince wedges to the pot.

Cut a circle of parchment that is about 1-inch larger than the circumference of your saucepan. Cut a small hole in the center of the circle. Bring the mixture to a simmer on medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to a very gentle simmer.

Place the parchment directly on top of the fruit in the liquid. Cook until the quince is tender when pierced with a knife, flipping the wedges occasionally, 40-50 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot and add more water if necessary to keep the fruit submerged. Let the fruit cool completely in the syrup. Store the quince in the fridge in an airtight container, submerged in their syrup. As needed, cut the seeds and cores from the wedges before serving.