You never knew what would be served for Christmas dinner at my mom’s table. 

She grew tired of ham and turkey and from that point on, left the menu up to us. One year, we had spaghetti and meatballs, and it was so good. 

But no matter what was for dinner, there always was cranberry bread. 

My mom made a beautifully dense, moist bread, bursting with cranberries and walnuts. Its just-right sweetness and delicate orange backdrop — no zest, just juice — perfectly offset the generous amount of tangy cranberries and rich, crunchy walnuts. Some loved it with cream cheese but I always preferred it with margarine, butter nowadays.

The first time I made this bread, I copied the recipe onto my very own index card, took it home and got to work. It’s a very simple quick bread, and I followed the directions to the letter, but my bread turned out dry and hard, nothing at all like my mom’s. 

I called my mother to commiserate, and she said, “Did you wrap it in foil when it came out of the oven?” 

Now, I watched my mother make this bread every year for most of my life, and the minute she spoke those words, I could picture it. 

“That wasn’t on the recipe card,” I complained. 

“Oh, you’ve got to wrap it in foil,” she replied. “That’s the secret.” 

My recipe card now sports those added directions at the bottom, in a different color ink. 

It’s counter intuitive to pull a hot loaf of bread from the oven and immediately wrap it up tight, but that’s where all the moisture comes from. You cook the bread for an hour, until it’s quite brown and pulling away from the sides of the pan. Then, as the bread cools, the foil captures the steam and returns the moisture to the bread. 

The recipe can be doubled or tripled. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever made just one loaf. Sometimes, my mom would make dozens and hand them out as Christmas gifts. 

This year, her recipe is my gift to you. Thank you so much for reading, and may the joy of the season warm your heart now and throughout the new year.

Enjoy!

Jill’s Mom’s Cranberry Bread 

2 cups flour 

1 cup sugar 

1½ teaspoons baking powder 

½ teaspoon baking soda 

½ teaspoons salt 

Juice of one orange, about ½ cup 

2 tablespoons melted butter 

Boiling water 

1 egg, beaten 

1 cup chopped walnuts 

1 cup halved cranberries 

Butter and flour a standard 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine the dry ingredients — flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt — in a large mixing bowl and set them aside. 

In measuring cup, combine the orange juice, melted butter and enough boiling water to make ¾ cup of liquid. Add the beaten egg. 

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and blend only enough so that the batter begins to come together. There should still be plenty of flour that hasn’t been mixed in. Add the cranberries and walnuts and stir to combine. 

Dump the batter into your prepared loaf pan and quickly even it out with a spatula. Then give the pan a couple of good raps on the counter.  

Bake for about an hour until the top is medium to dark brown and the bread is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Run a knife around the edge of the hot pan to loosen the loaf. Wrap the hot bread immediately in aluminum foil. Fold the edges over being sure to fully cover the bread. Set the loaf on its side on a rack to cool. 

When completely cool, cut a slice and serve it plain or with butter or cream cheese. Or package the loaf in a zip-top bag and store it in the refrigerator or freezer. 

Jill Blanchette is the multiplatform production manager at The Day. Share recipes or comments with her at j.blanchette@theday.com.