Orange Cake with Dried Cranberries

Citrus fruit (especially clementines and mandarines, but also oranges) and cranberries are pretty Christmassy, don't you think? Last night I combined these two in a simple loaf cake, and we enjoyed it for dinner last night as well as for breakfast this morning. Very simple to make - and very satisfying. I loved the slightly sour-bitter flavour that dried cranberries (also known as craisins) provided in this otherwise sweet cake.

Orange Loaf with Dried Cranberries
(Apelsinikeeks kuivatatud jõhvikatega)
Makes 1 loaf cake

200 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
180 g (200 ml) caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 medium-sized orange (both grated zest and the juice)
220 g (400 ml) plain/all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g dried cranberries

Cream butter and egg (using a wooden spoon and muscle power, or the paddle attachment on your KitchenAid).
Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Add orange juice and zest.
Mix flour and baking powder, stir in the cranberries. Fold the flour into the batter.
Spoon the batter into a buttered or lined loaf tin (1,5 litre capacity works well).
Bake at the 175 C / 350 F for about 50-60 minutes, until the cake is cooked (test for doneness with a toothpick).
Cool in the tin, then turn out and place on a serving dish.

TIPS: the cake will cut into nicer slices, if you wrap it into a towel or kitchen foil and keep at room temperature until the next day.

Sunday morning pancakes

I've mentioned before that every weekend we have pancakes for breakfast. I'm no good in making them, so I stay in bed until K. calls me to table. Here's a lovely photo of last weekend's pancakes - small and chubby farmers' cheese pancakes that we enjoyed with home-made lingonberry and pear jam (lingonberries were picked by K's mum, pears are from my parents' backyard and the jam was made by me). That's family cooperation, isn't it :)

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

An orange and fennel salad recipe

Looking for a light, quick and festive starter? Well, try this one :) It's a lovely Italian winter salad (Sicilian in origin, apparently), where fennel provides a lovely and slightly aniseedy crunch, orange provides the necessary sweet note, onion the sharpness and toasted walnuts add textural interest.

Orange and fennel salad
(Apelsini ja apteegitilli salat)
Serves 4

large handful or two of salad leaves (f.ex. lamb's lettuce)

1-2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

6 medium-sized (red blood) oranges, peeled and thinly sliced

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

walnut halves, toasted

Peel the oranges (remove as much of the white pith as possible) and cut crosswise into thin slices.

Remove the hard bottom part of the fennel bulbs and discard, cut the fennel into thin slices.

Peel the red onion, cut into thin slices.

Place orange, fennel and onion slices into a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours at room temperature, mixing couple of times.

To serve, place some salad leaves (cos or lamb's lettuce) onto a serving plate, top with salad, including any juices.

Garnish with toasted chopped walnuts.