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CRANBERRY POUND CAKE

CAKE
187 grams cake flour-sifted (1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tablespoons) before sifting
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups small cranberries (fresh or thawed) SEE NOTES
140 grams (5 oz.) white chocolate, grated fine
1 tablespoon flour
115 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter-softened at room temperature
300 grams sugar ( 1 and 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
3 LARGE eggs
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons browned butter

• Preheat convection oven to 325°.
• Butter and flour 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
• Combine cake flour, baking powder and salt and sift it three times, set aside.
• In a small sauce pan over medium heat salted butter until it’s nice amber color, remove the foam and set aside to cool.
• Whisk the egg with vanilla extract and set aside.
• Cream the unsalted butter on medium speed until it’s creamy.
• Slowly add sugar and continue beating until it’s creamy.
• Add heavy cream and mascarpone, beating on medium speed JUST until combined.
• Lower speed and gradually add dry ingredients alternately with the eggs.
• Toss cranberries with flour and finely grated white chocolate.
• Fold chocolate cranberry mixture into the batter.
• Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, smooth the top.
• Gently tap the pan on countertop to remove the air bubbles.
• With a butter knife draw a line down the center of the pound cake.
• Pour browned butter into the line.
• Loosely tent pan with foil and bake 30 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake another 30 minutes until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If you don’t have convection air oven, baking time will probably take longer.
• Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove it from the pan and COMPLETELY cool on the rack before icing.

ICING
56 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter-softened
112 grams (4 ounces) cream cheese-softened
1 1/2 + cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
handful dried cranberries
2 tablespoons QUALITY rum or alcohol of choice

• While cake is chilling soak cranberries in a quality rum.
• Drain cranberries well.
• Cream together softened butter and cream cheese until smooth.
• Slowly powdered sugar and beat until smooth,.
• Add vanilla extract.
• Spread on top of the cake.
• Sprinkle cranberries randomly on cake.
• Chill cake until the icing is set.

NOTES

• If you don’t have convection air oven raise the temperature to 350° and you will have to rotate the pan half way through the baking time.
• Using smaller cranberries gives you a better disbursement throughout the cake.
• If you are using frozen cranberries, thaw them first, rinse with cold water until the water is clear, drain the cranberries and dry well.
• Small WILD blueberries substitute wonderfully!