Eggnog Pound Cake

Directions

Soak the cranberries. Soak dried chopped cranberries and orange zest in brandy in a small bowl for 15 minutes. Preheat oven. Adjust rack to lower third of oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously butter the inside of a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan. Mix dry ingredients. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice. Cream the butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter until creamy, 30-45 seconds. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally as needed. Add eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and eggnog to butter sugar mixture. Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to gently add the dry ingredients in 4 additions, alternating with eggnog . Gently fold in orange zest, dried cranberries and any remaining brandy. Bake. Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan and spread evenly. Bake at 325 degrees F 55-60 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center and pulls away from the sides of the pan. You can also use a bamboo skewer and insert into the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool. Remove from oven and cool upright in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto a rack while the cake is still warm. Let cool completely. Prepare glaze. Once the cake has completely cooled, prepare glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, orange juice, and brandy. Make the glaze thick if you would like a thick, pronounced drizzle, or make it more thin if you want a glaze that is somewhat translucent. Glaze cake. Place cake on serving platter. Poke a few holes in the top and drizzle with brandy if you want. Use a spoon to stream the glaze onto the cake in back and forth motions to create a striped pattern. Or, if the glaze is thin enough, you can use a pastry brush to brush on the glaze.