Cranberry and clementine loaf cake

This is the second of the cakes I've made today for a charity fundraising cake sale tomorrow, along with an elderflower, lemon and poppyseed loaf cake and a sloe gin, hazelnut and fig layer cake. I'm really pleased with how this looks, drizzled with a glossy red cranberry glaze that reminds me of toffee-apples, and decorated with white chocolate stars. It'd be a lovely alternative to Christmas cake I think.

Ingredients

6 oz fresh cranberries

1 tbsp plain flour

4 oz butter

8 oz caster sugar

Zest of 2 clementines, finely grated

8 oz self-raising flour

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Juice of 2 clementines

4 tbsp milk

For the cranberry glaze

6 oz fresh cranberries

6 tbsp water

6 oz icing sugar

To decorate

White chocolate stars

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line a 9x5 inch loaf tin.  
2. Chop the cranberries in half and place them in a small bowl with a spoonful of flour, and toss to coat them. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the clementine zest and beat well to combine.
5. Measure out the flour and set aside.
6. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, followed by a large spoonful of flour between each egg.  Beat well after each addition.
7. Sift in half of the remaining flour and beat until well combined.
8. Add the clementine juice and beat to combine.
9. Sift in the remaining flour together with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt and beat until well combined.
10. Add the milk and beat well.
11. Fold in the cranberries.
12. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 45 mins until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 mins before removing from the tin and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.
13. To make the glaze, place the cranberries in a small saucepan with the water and a third of the icing sugar. Simmer over a low heat, stirring well and crushing the cranberries until it becomes a smooth, jam-like consistency.
14. Strain the cranberries through a sieve into a medium-sized bowl and leave to cool a little.  Sift in the remaining icing sugar and beat well until smooth.
15. Once the cake has cooled, use a pastry brush to coat the top of the cake with the cranberry glaze, allowing it to run down the sides (this is a bit messy, so you might want to put a sheet of baking paper under the wire rack to catch the drips).
16. Leave to cool a little before decorating with white chocolate stars.