This is breakfast at my place this Christmas Morning. I actually made something else for breakfast but it was a complete baking-fail, so this, while made for another occasion later today, will just be breakfast instead. While intended for a snacking cake, serves as coffee cake as well.
Ingredients
for the sugared cranberries
1 cup water
1 cup fresh cranberries
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
for the eggnog loaf
1/2 cup whole-fat eggnog
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla, rum, brandy or eggnog extract
1 cup fresh cranberries, cut if large
for the streusel
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Makes 2 8×4 inch loaf pan or 1 8-inch cake pan.
Directions
First, make your sugared cranberries. These can be made a day ahead, though I prefer to make them on the day. Rinse the cranberries under running water. Remove any bruised or mushy fruit and discard. Combine 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar and 1 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat. Combine the sugar syrup and cranberries in a small bowl. Cover and chill for 4 hours. Drain the cranberries in a colander over a bowl, reserving liquid for another use, if desired (makes a great simple syrup). Place the remaining sugar in a shallow dish or rimmed plate. Add the cranberries, a few at a time, rolling to coat. Spread the sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry.
To make the streusel topping, combine flour, butter, sugar and nutmeg in a bowl and mix with your fingers or a fork until it looks like coarse sand. Refrigerate.
Heat the oven to 350F. Create a foil sling for your pan and coat the parchment and exposed sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whisk the eggnog at high speed until it doubles in volume, 6-8 minutes. Because of the eggs and other ingredients, it won’t actually form peaks like whipped cream, but it should become very frothy and airy. Keep the whipped eggnog in the refrigerator until ready to use. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside. In the stand mixer this time with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until it becomes creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the sugar until the mixture looks fluffy and light-colored, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, fully incorporating each egg before adding the next. Beat in the extract. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Sprinkle the flour mixture over the butter mixture. Mix on low speed just until the ingredients come together into a thick batter. It’s ok if there is still a little flour visible on the dough and the sides of the bowl. Mix in the fresh (cut) cranberries by hand. Using a spatula, gently mix 1/3 of the whipped eggnog into the batter. Pour the rest of the eggnog into the bowl and gently fold it into the batter. At first, it will look like the eggnog won’t go into the batter. Just keep gently folding and stirring, and eventually it will form a smooth, glossy, pourable batter. Stir in the fresh (cut) cranberries.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and smooth the top. Spring on the streusel topping. Place in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The cake is done when the top is domed and golden-brown, and when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift it by the parchment paper and transfer to a cooling rack. Remove the parchment. Sprinkle with the sugared cranberries and serve.
