Cranberry Orange Bread

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan and line with a sheet of parchment so you can easily lift the bread out for glazing and slicing.
2. Remove the zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler. A serrated peeler works best for this. You want to remove just the orange part of the peel, with little to none of the bitter white part.
3. Process the peel and the sugar in a food processor until the peel is very finely ground and the sugar is moist and fragrant, this will only take a minute. Pulse at first, then process.
4. Rinse, dry, and give the cranberries a very rough chop, it's ok if some of them are whole. Set aside.
5. Put the orange sugar and butter into a stand mixer and cream until light and fluffy ~ a full 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times. This helps lighten the cake and help it rise.
6. Beat in each of the eggs, one by one, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Continue beating for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture will become light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice.
7. Lower the speed of the mixer and mix in the baking poweder and salt. Then add the flour, alternately with the buttermilk, beating just until blended. I like to finish by hand with a silicone spatula.
8. Fold in the cranberries, then turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top.
9. Bake on the center rack for 50-55 minutes, or until fully risen and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it (moist crumbs are fine.) If the cake seems to be browning too quickly, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top.
10. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove, using the parchment paper handles, and let fully cool on a rack.
11. Meanwhile whisk together the sugar with enough orange juice to make a thick glaze. The glaze should be quite thick, and just barely pourable. Spread the glaze over the cooled bread.
12. Top with orange zest and sugared cranberries.

sugared cranberries

1. Rinse the cranberries, then working in small batches, roll them around in a small bowl of sugar. You can use regular granulated sugar, or sparkling sugar, like I did. Set them on a plate to dry.