Cranberry Orange Cake
Dec 08, 2017, Updated May 07, 2023
Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake with cream cheese glaze and sugared cranberries!
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An easy and elegant cake for the festive season. This Cranberry Orange Cake is topped with a cream cheese glaze and sugared cranberries!
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This week has been so cold here but on the brighter side it’s also been sunny. What do you guys prefer cold and sunny or warm and rainy? I would take cold and sunny any day. I just can’t deal with the grey skies and constant rain after a while. I have been feeling much better this week and a lot of it has to do with the sunshine. Speaking of sunshine, we are going to Cancun this weekend, I have never been there so I am really looking forward to it. Have you guys been there? Any recommendations on places to see or vegetarian places to eat? Would love to know!
I made this Cranberry Orange Cake few days back for Sarvesh’s birthday. This has to be like the easiest cake ever. I swear I made this cake while working on 2 other recipes, it was that easy. I wanted to bake a cake for him but with things so crazy at work, I knew I would have no time to make a two-tier cake or anything fancy. So I decided on this bundt cake. Aren’t bundt cake like the prettiest? You don’t have to do much to make them look pretty, the shape itself is so pretty. Just a simple drizzle on top and you have a perfect looking cake!
Cranberries and orange is such a classic combination and I have already shared couple of recipes on the same combination – like this fudge and this instant pot chutney! By the way did you guys give that chutney a try? It’s really good and so easy to make in the IP. So with cranberries in season, I thought of giving this combination another go! For this cranberry orange cake, I used a 6-cup bundt pan . I have a regular 12 cup bundt pan as well but sometimes you just want to make a smaller cake, and this 6 cup pan is perfect for that. I drizzled the cake with a cream cheese glaze and topped it with sugared cranberries. Don’t they look pretty?
To make the sugared cranberries, I heated some water with sugar, then added the cranberries and let them sit in the water-sugar mixture for 15 minutes. After that I just drained the sugar syrup, place cranberries on parchment paper and let them dry for an hour or two. Once dried, I just rolled them in granulated sugar. It was really easy, let me know if you guys need a recipe and I will be happy to do a separate post on sugared cranberries. I like the fact that they are so easy to make and can be used to decorate cakes, pies, cupcakes during the festive season!
You cannot miss the glaze in this cake – it’s like the cake is incomplete without it. This cranberry orange cake is lightly sweetened so in case you guys plan to skip the glaze (which you should not!!), increase the amount of sugar to 1 cup. Hope you guys give this cake a try this festive season, happy baking!
Method
Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, beat together butter and sugar till well combined.
Add the vanilla extract, orange blossom water, egg and mix well.
Add in the orange juice followed by yogurt. Mix until combined. The batter will look curdled at this point, this is fine do not worry about it.
Whisk flour, baking soda, baking baking powder and salt in a bowl. Start adding the flour mix to the wet ingredients – add it in 2 parts alternating with milk, beginning and ending with the flour.
Mix until the batter is just combined. Do not over-mix.
Fold in the cranberries, I chopped a few while adding them to the batter.
Spray a 6-cup bundt pan with non-stick spray. Transfer the prepared batter to the pan. Bake at 350 F degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven, let it cool completely.
Meanwhile make the glaze by whisking together cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the in vanilla extract and mix.
Add a tablespoon of milk to thin it out.
Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Decorate with sugared cranberries. Enjoy a slice of this cranberry orange cake with a cup of coffee!
* Increase the amount of sugar to 1 cup (200 grams) if you don’t plan to make the cream cheese glaze.
* I have used Orange Blossom Water in the recipe (this ONE), you may use couple of teaspoons of orange zest in place.
Cranberry Orange Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter [1 stick] at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated whitesugar [150 grams]
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon orange blossom water
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1/4 cup orange juice [60 ml]
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup milk [60 ml] I used 2%
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour [195 grams]
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cranberries
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 3 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, beat together butter and sugar till well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract, orange blossom water, egg and mix well.
- Add in the orange juice followed by yogurt. Mix until combined. The batter will look curdled at this point, this is fine do not worry about it.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, baking baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- Start adding the flour mix to the wet ingredients - add it in 2 parts alternating with milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until the batter is just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Fold in the cranberries, I chopped a few while adding them to the batter.
- Spray a 6-cup bundt pan with non-stick spray. Transfer the prepared batter to the pan.
- Bake at 350 F degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven, let it cool completely.
- Meanwhile make the glaze by whisking together cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add the in vanilla extract and mix. Add a tablespoon of milk to thin it out.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Decorate with sugared cranberries. Enjoy a slice of this cranberry orange cake with a cup of coffee!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Cranberries Orange Cake
Great recipe! Made this and my husband ate the whole thing in a couple of days (can’t recall if I even got a piece!) Needless to say, it’s now his favorite cake. Making it for Thanksgiving this year (…and for his birthday, a week later.)
glad to know 🙂
Love this! Sometimes it’s great to make a cake that doesn’t need a whole load of effort, frosting, and piping to make it look super cute, and this is the perfect example!
The sugared cranberries look amazing – I will definitely remember that for Christmas.
Cranberry orange is one of my favorite combos! Love the candied cranberries on top!`
Do you think I can double this recipe and make it in my 12 cup bundt pan? Or will it be too heavy? And how should I adjust the baking time?
yes I think it should work, you would bake for around 50-60 minutes?
Wow! This is beautiful and I am all about cream cheese glaze!!
i love cake orange, thank for sharing us.
Love sugared cranberries! This cake looks festive and delicious!
Oh my, those sugared cranberries are just BEAUTIFUL, Manali! This cake is seriously holiday goals!
thanks Sarah!
Looks beautiful!
thanks Mary!
So very festive and beautiful with sugared cranberries! Good job, Manali.
Thank you Angie!