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1
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 325.
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2
Grease an 8x5 or 9x5 loaf pan. Cut a piece of wax paper or parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan, then grease the bottom again. (otherwise your lovely loaf might stick to the pan!).
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3
Sort the cranberries and discard any soft ones. Coarsely chop the cranberries (I pulse a couple of times with my food processor) and place in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the orange zest & 1/2 cup of the sugar and heat slowly just to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool.
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4
In a bowl stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder & baking soda.
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5
In a separate bowl combine the butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Beat until light & fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg.
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6
Stir in half the flour mixture, and then the orange juice & water. Stir in the remaining flour mixture and then the cooled cranberry mixture. Don't overmix.
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7
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, 55-60 minutes.
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8
Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack, peel the wax paper from the bottom of the loaf, and cool completely. Slice & serve.
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9
Note: This recipe doesn't double well. The batter is light & airy, and too voluminous even for my Kitchenaid stand mixer. If I want to make 2 loaves, I mix them up separately. But I put each loaf in the oven as soon as it is mixed up because the baking powder is already activated. Then I know if, for example, 10 minutes have passed before the 2nd loaf goes in, I will pull the 1st loaf out when the timer goes off, then set the timer again for another 10 minutes for the 2nd loaf.
