Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread

I have no idea what possessed me to buy that punnet of fresh cranberries, having never tasted the fresh version in my life.  Dried cranberries are a firm fixture in my diet and I have even been known to dabble in the odd beverage containing cranberry juice ... but never a real life fresh cranberry!  With the punnet tucked away in the crisper draw (is that where they are supposed to be kept?  I have no idea!) I was happily drooling over the food porn at Foodgawker when I found this recipe for Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread (think more along the lines of Banana Bread rather than a recipe for the kind of bread to make sandwiches with).  I had almost all the ingredients to hand, although the buttermilk was subbed for semi skimmed owing to the pancakes for breakfast yesterday ... I'm not braving the weather for a trip to the shops today, that snow has been chucking it down all day.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread
1/2 cup pecans, chopped coarse
1 tablespoon grated zest from 1 large orange
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2/3 cup buttermilk
90g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 large egg, beaten lightly
2 cups plain flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
170g fresh cranberries, roughly chopped (good luck - those little suckers are tricky for chopping!)

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess.

Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet and place in preheated oven 5-7 minutes until fragrant. Shake the baking sheet halfway through baking so the nuts will toast evenly. Remove nuts from oven and set aside to cool completely.

In a small bowl, stir together orange juice, zest, buttermilk, butter, and egg; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in large bowl. Stir liquid ingredients into the dry until just moistened. Gently stir in cranberries and pecans. Do not over mix.

Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth surface with a rubber spatula. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 160C; continue to bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely before serving, at least 1 hour.

Makes 1 large loaf
Taken from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

The hardest part has been having to wait an hour for the loaf to cool - murder I tell you!  It smelt glorious right from the start with the toasted pecans and the orange zest wafting through the whole house.  There is nothing more comforting in this world than the smell of baking permeating the place ... until you actually get the chance for the first bite!