Carry-On Cake?

I've been looking for something to make to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. This year, we'll be flying to Chattanooga, TN to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws. That makes things a little trickier because I need to find something that will be easily transported in my carry-on luggage. That means no sauces, no frosting, nothing fragile.

So I thought that some type of cake might be good. I was debating between an Apricot-Ginger Pound Cake with Rum Glaze from Williams-Sonoma, or an Orange-Cranberry Pound Cake from Peabody's blog. I consulted with my sister-in-law, Holly, who didn't even hesitate to pick the Orange-Cranberry Pound Cake :)


So this weekend I decided to make the pound cake to see if I liked it. I didn't want to bring something to Thanksgiving dinner that I had never made or tasted before. I'm not really sure why I even bothered, because I should have known that anything from Peabody's blog would be wonderful!


This pound cake is moist and dense as pound cake should be, but not too dense. The orange zest gives the cake a great undertone (if you look closely, you can even see the orange zest in the photos). And of course the cranberries make it perfect for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to share this with the family next week! :)


Orange-Cranberry Pound Cake
from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody


2 sticks of butter, softened
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one medium orange
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dried cranberries


Preheat oven to 350F.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the milk and the vanilla and orange zest. Sift together the spices, flour, salt; add them to the wet ingredients, stirring gently just until well combined. Fold in the dried cranberries.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan then turn out onto plate.