Cranberry-Orange Bread

Cranberry-Orange Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Active time: 20 minutes; total time 1 1/2 hours

Cranberry sauce is one of the leftovers we can count on in our house (even if there's not a single drop of gravy left)--maybe because I make such a huge batch every year. But the nice thing about this delicious, cakey quick-bread is that you can use any kind of cranberry sauce: jellied or whole berry, canned or home-made. You can even cheat and buy cranberry sauce just to make this--and you won't regret it.

2 cups flour (I use half spelt)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1 tablespoon grated orange zest (from 1 large orange)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1 large orange)

1/2 cup pecans, toasted at 350 for 7 minutes and coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups cranberry sauce (or 1 14-ounce can)

Heat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter, sugar, and baking soda until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, orange zest, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the orange juice, beating between each addition and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the nuts and cranberry sauce until just combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, tk minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then invert onto rack to cool completely.