Orange Cranberry Cake
This moist, flavorful festive looking orange cranberry cake is a crowd pleaser. You can enjoy it for breakfast, as a snack or with your evening tea, coffee or milk. The combo of tart cranberries and citrusy orange is a winner! After making this you will agree that no flavor combination is more delicious than orange and cranberry.
This cake has a moist and tender crumb and is loaded with juicy cranberries. Biting into it initially gives a sweet orange flavor and then followed by a sudden burst of tart cranberries.
Not only is it delicious but it is easy to make too. You can mix it up in just one bowl, with no mixer needed and it can easily be prepared in advance. You don’t need to wait for cranberry season, just use frozen cranberries!
There are a number of ways you can eat it:
- Simple with no toppings
- Topped with a sweet orange glaze
- Topped with icing glaze
- Dusted with powdered sugar
- Nuts
Tips
- Zest the orange before juicing it.
- Reserve a teaspoon of zest for the glaze; if you plan to make an orange glaze.
- If you are using fresh cranberries, they can be used directly. Just toss them in a little flour to coat them. This ensures that the cranberries don’t sink to the bottom of the loaf as it bakes, and they are evenly distributed.
- If using frozen cranberries, do not thaw them. Once out of the freezer, coat them with flour and add to the batter immediately.
- Avoid dried cranberries, they are not juicy.
- Using oil (instead of butter) produces a moist and soft bread.
- If during halfway through baking, you see the top is browning too quickly then loosely cover the cake with aluminum foil. This will prevent the top from getting too brown before the center bakes through.
You can cover and store the loaf in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Check out my other cake recipes:
Middle Eastern Semolina Coconut Cake – Basbousa
Orange Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (in 1/2 cup milk add 1 teaspoon vinegar and leave for 5 minutes)
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2-3 tablespoon orange zest (from about 1 medium size orange)
- 1/2 cup orange pulp (from about 1 medium size orange)
- 1 1/2 cup frozen cranberries + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Prepare a 8×8 inch or 9×9 inch cake pan by lining it with parchment paper and lightly grease it.
- Zest the orange so that you end up with 2-3 tablespoons of orange zest and set aside. (While zesting, stop when you see the white part because it is bitter)
- Cut up the orange (remove seeds if any) and puree the pulp. Keep it aside.
- In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients- all purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cornstarch. Use a hand whisk to mix them well.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or hand held mixer, add eggs and sugar. Start whisking it on medium speed for about 3-5 minutes. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once.
- With the mixer still running, SLOWLY DRIZZLE oil.
- Then add the orange zest, buttermilk, vanilla essence and the pureed orange pulp. Whisk for 30 seconds or until everything is well combined.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet batter and use a SPATULA to fold it. Keep folding gently until only a few streaks of dry flour can be seen. Do not overmix!
- In a separate bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour to the frozen cranberries and toss to coat them. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter while baking.
- Add 1 1/4 cup of the cranberries to the batter and gently mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin.
- Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup cranberries on the top,
- Place the baking pan in the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle. It should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Give an additional 5 minutes if it is still very moist.
- Allow to cool completely then remove from the baking tin and enjoy.
Shahi Tukray
