Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Buttery and delicious, with hints of orange flavor, and juicy cranberries.
Texture: The cake is incredibly soft and moist.
Ease: Not too difficult to make
Appearance: Gorgeous!
Pros: This is a fairly easy and beautiful dessert.
Cons: It’s hard to stop at one piece.
Would I make this again? Absolutely!
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Please welcome Danielle from Live Well Bake Often as she shares this Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake recipe! Be sure to send some love for me! -Tessa
Hi everyone, it’s Danielle from Live Well Bake Often! I’m back with another delicious recipe for you all that is perfect for this time of year. While I absolutely love anything with chocolate, I also love any kind of dessert with fresh or dried cranberries in it. In fact, these white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies are one of my favorite cookie recipes.
For today’s recipe, I wanted to share something with beautiful, fresh cranberries. When I think of cranberries, I immediately think of how well they pair with oranges too. Orange and cranberry go together like peanut butter and jelly. So, I decided to combine the two into this easy and delicious Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake.
Bundt cakes are one dessert that I love to bake because they’re easy and always turn out beautifully. This Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake is no exception. All you have to do is mix up the batter, bake it, then top it with an easy glaze. Plus, this cake is a perfect recipe that you can make ahead of time for the holidays too.
When it comes to making bundt cakes, some recipes call for using all butter. I prefer to use mostly butter and just a little bit of oil. There is only 1/4 cup oil in this recipe, but it helps to add a little moisture to the cake and keep it from drying out. This cake is so incredibly soft, rich, buttery, and moist that it’s almost impossible to stop at just one piece.
The orange flavor in this recipe isn’t too overpowering, but you can definitely taste little hints of the orange in each bite. To add a little extra pop of orange, I like to use fresh orange juice in the glaze. You can certainly use milk for the glaze, but the fresh orange juice is absolutely delicious in this recipe!
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Ingredients
For the cranberry orange bundt cake:
- 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (349g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (169g)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 cup sour cream (227g)
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
For the orange glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar (125g)
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh orange juice (or milk)
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one a time, then mix in the vanilla until well combined. Slowly mix in the orange juice, orange zest, and oil until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly mix in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the sour cream (starting with the dry ingredients and ending with the dry ingredients). Mix everything until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter. Add in the cranberries and gently fold them into the batter.
- Spray a 10-inch bundt pan well with non stick cooking spray, or grease with butter and flour. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and evenly spread it around. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil if needed for the last 5-10 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the orange glaze:
- Once the cake has cooled, place a piece of foil under the wire rack (to catch any glaze that falls off). Pour the orange glaze evenly over the cake and allow to harden for about 10-15 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
I have made this cake about six times now, including a gift for a new mom. It is perfect for the winter/holiday season. It is one of my new favorites. I have made it in 3 different types of bundt pan, and while I thought it couldn’t get any prettier than it was in the Nordic Ware Fleur-de-Lys pan, but i just made it in the NW anniversary “party” bundt pan, and it is SPECTACULAR–the icing dribbles down like something you see in a book, and when you cut it, the cranberries pop against the bright yellow cake. (you just have to bake a tiny bit of batter in a ramekin or else it may overflow the “party” pan). Delicious, easy, beautiful. And it makes your house smell fantastic. A perfect cake!
Hate to ask this question but, do you know the calorie count per slice with or without the frosting?
I’m unsure of the calorie count, Brian. There are quite a few applications you can use online, like My Fitness Pal, where you can calculate calories based on the exact products/brands that you use.
Can I use this batter for cupcakes?
I haven’t tried it yet, but the cake does turn out a little denser like a traditional bundt cake. I’m not sure if this would work well as cupcakes, they may not be quite as light.
I made almost the same exact cake for Thanksgiving and it turned out great! Everyone loved it. The only difference is that the recipe I used didn’t have an orange glaze, just a regular one with powdered sugar and milk. OJ sounds like it would really kick up the flavor. If I make it again, I’m definitely gonna try that!
The orange juice in the glaze really does kick up the orange flavor, Jessica! Hope you like it if you give it a try 🙂
Can we bake it in any other regular pan other than the bundt kind
It would probably be fine to use another pan or divide it between two pans since this recipe does make a lot of batter. But since I’ve only tested this recipe in a bundt pan, I can’t really give suggestions for different pans/baking times. If you try it out in something else, I’d love to hear how it turns out though!
A delicious cake and perfect for the Holidays!
Thank you, Joanne!
I agree with Tessie – this would make a beautiful gift in a smaller size. Please give us a time adjustment for not only the smaller Bundt’s but also loaf pans!
I know a regular Bundt pan holds about 12 cups and an 8 x 4 x 2 1/2 in. loaf pan holds about4 cups.
It would be awesome to get 3 gifts from 1 recipe!
Thanks
Hi, Cheryl! I think that’s a wonderful idea! Since I haven’t tested this recipe in anything other than a large bundt pan, it’s hard to give suggestions for baking time in a different pan. If you try it out, I’d love to hear how they turn out 🙂
Only dried cranberries are available in my country! Can I use them in this recipe?
Dried cranberries would be fine, just adjust the amount to your personal preference 🙂
Thanks for the recipe, it looks great. Wondering if you tried this in small Bundt pans? I was thinking about doing this as little Christmas gifts… Just wondering about the time in the oven. Thanks
Hi, Tessie! I haven’t tried these in small bundt pans yet. I think it would work fine, I’m just unsure of the baking time. You would definitely need to decrease it though 🙂 If you try it out, I’d love to hear how they turn out!
This looks delicious! I’ve been wanting to bake a loaf or pound cake with cranberries & a citrus flavor.
Tessa can dried cranberries be used? I know when I’m making a warm cranberry kale salad, heating the cranberries in the apple cider vinegar makes them pulp. Do you have any suggestions if I use dried cranberries or frozen cranberries? Thank you
Dried or frozen cranberries would be fine. If using dried cranberries just adjust the amount to your personal preference. If you use frozen cranberries, I wouldn’t thaw them I would just gently fold them into the batter. Hope that helps!
can dried cranberries. be substituted for fresh?
Thanks
Yes, that would be fine! Just adjust the amount to your personal preference.
This looks delicious! The directions do not seem to include when the cranberries are to be added. Also, since it doesn’t say that they are chopped before being added, so I assume they are not to be chopped (it’s just that they usually are in most cakes, so I’m wanting to double-check). I also assume that they are added at the end after the dry ingredients and sour cream are mixed in, although it’s not specified?
You’re correct, the cranberries do go in at the end after the sour cream is mixed in. I will get the recipe updated to include that information. I also just leave the cranberries whole, but you can certainly chop them up if you like.