The Cranberry Loaf Train.

At our previous visit to Kate we went to a lovely tea house called Tea Sutra Teahouse and oh boy, this place really is the epitome of relaxing. Bamboo, tea leaves in jars on the walls, incense and a little floor seating area where you must remove your shoes; perfect.

The highlight of this tea house is by far the tea selection which is served in lovely little tea, pots that are shaped like elephants and the cake selection. 

In contrast to the tea menu, the baked goods selection is small but varied. From a jam shortbread to a carrot cake, there was something for everyone (even for those with gluten & wheat fears). But what stood out as the surprise treat was this delicious orange and cranberry loaf that my friend had ordered. If was simply, the best fruit loaf that i have ever had and i'm the person who detests raisons. Light orange flavoured sponge with a soft crumb, dotted with cranberries and topped with a citrus buttercream. 

Lovely tea!

The seated area. NO SHOES ALLOWED!

We made it as soon as we got back to manchester. I just adapted a lemon loaf cake by changing the juice and zest to orange, added floured dried cranberries (if you lightly coat dried fruit/nuts/chocolate chips with flour before adding to cake batter, they don't end up at the bottom of the cake!) and topped it all with a lemon and orange bog standard buttercream. Hannah wanted to add a little glam to the cake, so we added some of those lemon sweet jelly things. IT WAS SO GOOD.

Oooh, so citrus, so nice.