With the tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the orange citrus, this cake has no choice but to be delicious. This Cranberry and Orange Bundt Cake is moist, buttery and perfect for this season!
I absolutely love cranberries. I love the tartness of the cranberries and I love the subtle sweetness that cranberries can bring. In fact, my favorite side dish on Thanksgiving is jellied cranberry sauce. Hell, when I go to buy what I need for Thanksgiving dinner, I buy the canned cranberry sauce before I buy the turkey. Furthermore, I love the combination of cranberry and orange. This Cranberry and Orange Bundt Cake recipe is not my first dabble with cranberry and orange flavors. I’ve made this Cranberry and Orange Quick Bread Recipe that I make around the holidays and give away as holiday gifts.
When creating this cake, I didn’t simply want to make a buttery cake mixture and add some cranberries to the batter. I wanted to make sure that you immediately understood that this Cranberry and Orange Bundt Cake was a perfect marriage at first bite. I wanted the strength from the tartness of the cranberries to be obvious, just as much as I wanted the light flavor of the orange too. Both present and both complimenting one another.
How I made this Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
Because this was my intention, I decided to turn some of the cranberries I was going to put into the cake and turn it into a compote, which is really easy to do with cranberries. Cranberries don’t need any help to become a thick preserve. Cranberries have a lot of natural pectins, which is what thickens fruit without the help of cornstarch or other thickeners. I did the same thing in my recipe for White Chocolate Cranberry Crumb Bars, which I made 2-3 times last season and was amazing!
Kitchen gadgets you’ll need for this recipe
Cranberry and Orange Bundt Cake
Description
Cranberry and Orange Bundt Cake Recipe Type : Dessert Author: Nicole Nared-Washington from Brown Sugar Food Blog Prep time: 25 mins Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins Total time: 1 hour 35 mins Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 c. sugar
- ¼. c. oil
- 1 tbsp. Orange zest
- ⅓ c. orange juice
- 2 ¼ c. fresh cranberries, divided
- 1 ½ tbsp. Sugar
- 2 tbsp. water
- 2 ¾ c. flour
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- ½ tsp. Baking soda
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
- Icing
- 2 ½ c. powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. Melted butter
- 2 tbsp. milk
- ½ orange, squeezed
- 2 tsp. Orange zest
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Spray a Bundt Cake pan with baking spray.
- In a medium saucepan, add 1 ¼ cup of fresh cranberries, 1 ½ tablespoon sugar, and 1 ½ tablespoon. Water and turn on medium heat. Allow to come to a simmer and allow the cranberries to pop. Once the cranberries become a compote, after about 10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the unsalted butter and sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Use a rubber spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl to mix well. Add the oil, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients ½ cup at a time and the remaining 1 cup of cranberries to the cake batter. Spread half of the batter into the bundt pan, add the cranberry compote across the top of the first cake batter layer. Add the remaining cake batter on top of the compote. Use a knife and swirl the cake around into the batter. Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and turn to cooling rack.
- To make the icing, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, orange juice, orange zest, and milk and mix well. Once the cake has cooled completely pour the glaze over the cake and allow it to set. Serve as desired.
I want a slice this evening with my cup of Tea. LOve the combination of Cranberry and orange. Delicious, flavorful and best for Tea time parties.
Thank you Veena!
Oh what a beautiful bundt! I love cranberries and oranges…I bet is smells lovely baking too!
Thank you Tammy!
Cranberry and orange is probably my most favorite Christmas flavor pairing! I love Bundt cakes and yours looks scrumptious!
Thank you Lori!
This cake is just perfect! I absolutely love the combination of cranberry and orange, and this cake really lets those flavors shine!
Thank you Kim!
Always looking for recipes to use my bundt pan for. This looks so delicious!
Thank you Amanda!
Such a beautiful bundt cake that’s perfect for the holidays! I’m always looking for ways to use extra cranberries I have on hand and this is perfect!
Thank you Jaime!
Cranberry and orange is the perfect pair in a bundt cake this season. Love the candied cranberries; so pretty and delicious!
Thank you Amy!
Yes please! Love the combination of orange and cranberry flavors! Excited to make this!
Thank you Charity!
Oh my goodness, Nicole – what an absolutely gorgeous cake! So pretty and really festive for a holiday party or to end a special family meal! The pretty glaze dripping down the sides and those lovely candied cranberries – wow! And I definitely agree with you that tart cranberry and sweet, refreshing orange is a delectable match – a perfect combination! Bravo! So impressive!
Wow its great thanks for sharing this
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What a stunning looking bundt cake! And I agree with you about cranberries! I love them too and they look so stunning in any recipe. Loving the flavours of this recipe. Definitely on the list to try.
This bundt cake is a winner! I grabbed some cranberries on sale and was excited to use them. We will be making this as long as we can continue to get our hands on fresh cranberries!
YAY!
This is such a beautiful cake! The combination of orange with cranberry is one of my favourites, and perfect for the holiday season. This is a great cake to serve around Christmas!
It doesn’t get more festive than this! Such a beautiful and delicious bake, and the combination of orange and cranberry… just perfect for Holiday season! Also, how beautiful are these sugar coated cranberries!
Perfect Christmas cake inspiration! I will have to sub the cranberries for their Scandinavian relatives – lingonberries. That’s what I can get here, and they are pretty similar, just smaller in size. And I love your Bundt cake pan! Such a pretty shape.
If this Cranberry and Orange Bundt Cake has no choice but to be delicious…me, even if there are other choices, I will still go with this cake! It’s really mouthwatering and every bite is heaven.
I bought a bundt pan just like yours and I was waiting for a special recipe to make in it. Once I saw your Cranberry and Orange cake I knew I’d found it. So I tried it out the other day and it was spectacular. The taste was just as good. I’m making this again for New Years. A recipe a don’t want to lose.
YAY! Thank you Marisa!
This cranberry and orange bundt cake Looks amazing! It looks perfectly fluffy and delicious. I would love to make this with my daughter one day. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Cranberry and orange make for such a festive flavor combination! I would love a slice of this cake to share with my hubby!
Cranberry and orange make for such a festive flavor combination! I would love a slice of this cake to share with my husband, I know he would love it.
Thanks Sara!
Omg, this is the most beautiful bundt cake I’ve ever seen. The addition of sugar coated cranberries on the frosting is so pretty in your photos and the orange zest made my kitchen smell so good while this was baking!