cranberry sauce

1. In a small saucepan, bring cranberries, brown sugar, orange juice and salt to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook, stirring and mashing the cranberries against the side of the pan, until the cranberries are soft and the sauce has thickened, 10- 12 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the heat when it has thickened to the consistency of a loose, chunky strawberry jam (too watery will make the cake soggy, while too thick will be hard to swirl). Set aside to cool while you start on the cake.

pound cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. To make a parchment paper sling, cut a 9” x 14” piece of parchment paper and lay it in a 9" x 5" loaf pan, trimming the sides if necessary for a smooth fit. Lightly grease the paper and exposed edges of the loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until very light. Beat in the sugar gradually and then the eggs, one by one. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, add the orange zest, and beat until the mixture is very light and fluffy.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In another small bowl, whisk together the milk, Grand Marnier (if using), and vanilla.
5. Alternately add the wet and dry ingredients to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Stir to combine after each addition.
6. Pour a third of the batter into the prepared pan and spoon a third of the cranberry sauce on top in small, separate dollops. Repeat this process 2 more times, ending with dollops of cranberry sauce on the very top of the cake (I tend to go with bigger dollops on the top, so there's more jam to see on the surface when the cake puffs and bakes). With a skewer or thin knife, swirl the cranberry sauce and batter together for a marbled effect (this article has a good figure-8 technique).
7. Bake the cake for 60 to 65 minutes, until it springs back when pressed on lightly, and a long toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. If the cake appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with foil.
8. Remove the cake from the oven, and loosen its edges with a sharp knife. Wait 5 minutes, then carefully lift the parchment paper sling out of the pan onto a rack to cool.