Cranbery, Orange, Pecan and White Chocolate Mini Loaves

It's almost Christmas and I have one final Christmas recipe to share with you. I've baked a few other things but I may save them for next year! It's been a really busy month and I've not had a chance to bake as many homemade gifts as I'd like. I wanted something relatively quick and easy yet stunning. I'm not a huge fan of fruit cake so I decided to make this very festive cake using cranberries and orange. I added in some pecan and white chocolate for indulgence and a spoonful of marmalade in the middle. I made an orange glaze to go on top of the cakes and decorated it with a lightly toasted pecan nut. The cake was incredibly moist and orange was the predominant flavour. You can clearly taste the other ingredients when you got a bite of it particularly the marmalade centre. I think I'll have to bake this again after Christmas just because it's so tasty!

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter this month is 'X' and Caroline is accepting everything Christmas related.

These mini loaves are also perfect for Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Christmas.

 marmalade, dried cranberries, oranges, pecan nuts, white chocolate chips

 half fill the mini loaf case with batter 

add a spoonful of marmalade

 cover with more batter 

 ready to be decorated 

 I poured orange glaze icing on top and placed a lightly toasted pecan nut in the centre

 Finished with a christmas ribbon for the festive touch 

Happy Christmas Everyone! 

Makes 19 mini loaves

For the cake

225g butter

350g caster sugar

450g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

250mls milk

125mls fresh orange juice

zest of 2 oranges

4 eggs

170g dried cranberries

100g white chocolate chips

100g pecans, roughly chopped  + extra whole pecans to decorate 

Orange marmalade (optional)

For the glaze

juice of 1-2 oranges

150 -200g icing sugar

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy,
• Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. 
• In a large bowl, mix the milk and orange juice.
• Sieve the flour and baking powder into another bowl.
• Add in the milk mixture alternating with the flour mixture in 3 batches.
• Add in the orange zest, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and pecan nuts. 
• Half fill the mini loaf case with batter.
• Add a teaspoon of marmalae on top.
• Cover with more batter until about 3/4 full. 
• Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• To make the glaze, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the orange juice until you get a spreadable consistency. You may need to add more juice or icing sugar depending on the consistency you want. 
• Spread a generous layer of glaze on top of the cake and decorate with a whole pecan nut which has been lightly toasted.