Rudyard Kipling and Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865, in Bombay, India. He was educated in England but returned to India in 1882. In 1892, Kipling married Caroline Balestier and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont where he wrote The Jungle Book (1894) and "Gunga Din." Eventually becoming the highest paid writer in the world, Kipling was recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He died in 1936 in England.

There was a lot of drama in Kipling's life. I was captivated reading his biography.

The Just So Stories for children are a collection of short stories written by the British author Rudyard Kipling. The stories are highly fantasized origin stories, especially for differences among animals. They are among Kipling's best known works. The book itself was in part a tribute to his late daughter, for whom Kipling had originally crafted the stories for her as bedtime reading. The book's name had in fact come from Josephine, who told her father he had to repeat each tale as he always had, or "just so," as Josephine often said. My personal favorite story is the "Elephant's Child". The repetition and lyrical sounds make reading the story out loud fun.

To read the entire short story  of the "Elephant's Child" follow this link below or to hear it read outloud go to youtube
http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/elephant.htm

Celebrate Kipling's birthday with Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

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Cook's notes: Cranberry Orange Pound Cake is so moist and perfect for the winter and holiday season! Buttermilk is the secret ingredient. Dried cranberries work the best if using mini loaf pans. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter. softened 
• 1¾ cups sugar 
• 2 TB. orange zest 
• 3 large eggs 
• ½ tsp. vanilla 
• ¾ cup buttermilk 
• 2½ cups fresh cranberries or 1-1/2 cups dried cranberries
• 2½ cups flour 
• 2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp. salt 

Orange Glaze:

• 1½ cups powdered sugar 
• 2 TB. orange juice 
• 2 TB. orange zest 
• 1 TB. milk 
• 1/2 tsp.vanilla 

Cake Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
• Grease and flour either 2 large bread pans or 3 small bread pans. 
• In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and orange zest together for 3 to 5 minutes. 
• Add eggs one at a time and beat an additional minute per egg. 
• In a separate large bowl, mix and combine dry ingredients together. 
• Add dry ingredients alternatively with the buttermilk to the butter/sugar/orange zest/egg mixture. Fold in cranberries. 
• Divide batter among pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until center comes clean using a toothpick. 
• Let loaves cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove loaves and place on a wire cooling rack. After 30 minutes place a sheet of wax paper underneath rack and pour glaze over bread loaves.  

Orange Glaze Directions:

• Whisk glaze ingredients together until smooth. 

WAIT! There's more...I saved the best to last. Who would have guessed you'd see this at the end of 2014. We are going out on a high note.