TL/DR – Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake. This version is dense like a pound cake, buttery, tangy, sweet and orangey. Cranberries explode in high heat and prove quite festive in this bundt with orange icing. –
My neighbor friend made an excellent point when chiming in on the second-to last version of this cake: “I love how you use real stuff to make flavors. It’s like eating an orange.” While sometimes extracts are appropriate, I find that plain old citrus zest is often the very best flavoring for a cake because it brings brightness and aroma to each bite.
This cake almost qualifies as a pound cake, as it contains nearly equal quantities of eggs, flour and sugar. However, instead of only butter it also contains cream cheese and whole Greek yogurt, which make for a fluffy-yet-dense crumb and play happily with cranberry and orange flavors.
Start by heating an oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together softened butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add granulated sugar and cream together on medium high speed until it looks fluffy, (at least a minute.) Add eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add one third of that mixture to the batter and mix on low until just combined. Add half of the Greek yogurt and a generous amount of orange zest and mix until just combined, followed by the second part of the dry mixture. Finish this step by adding the remainder of the yogurt, mix, and then mix in the final amount of dry flour mixture.
Finally, fold in fresh cranberries and add the batter to a bundt pan coated thoroughly in nonstick spray.
Bake the cake at 350 F for about an hour and 5 minutes. Check it at 60 minutes, then add short increments of time until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make an icing of fresh orange juice and powdered sugar and drizzle it over a the cooled cake.
For more bundt cake recipes, try Lemon Yellow Squash Bundt Cake, Sweet Potato Orange Bundt Cake, or Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake.
Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
This version is dense like a pound cake, buttery, tangy, sweet and orangey. Cranberries explode in high heat and prove quite festive in this bundt with orange icing.
Ingredients
- 1/2 c butter, softened,
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 c granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 t vanilla extract
- 3 c all purpose flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 1/2 t salt
- 3 T grated orange zest, from 2 large oranges
- 1 c whole greek yogurt
- 2 c fresh cranberries
- 1 1/2 T fresh orange juice
- 1 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium high speed for about a minute.
- Step 2 Add the sugar, then cream until the mixture is fluffy, about a minute and a half. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
- Step 3 Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Then add the vanilla extract and orange zest and mix well.
- Step 4 Put the flour in a medium bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir it well with a whisk.
- Step 5 Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix each addition on low until just combined.
- Step 6 Fold in the cranberries with a spatula. Coat a bundt pan generously with nonstick spray and add the batter to the pan, spreading it with a spatula to even it out.
- Step 7 Bake at 350 F for about an hour and 5 minutes. Check it at 60 minutes, then add more time in small increments until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Step 8 Cool the bundt in the pan for 10 minutes, then slide a small angled icing spatula carefully around the edges before turning the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Step 9 Whisk together the orange juice and confectioner’s sugar, adjusting for thickness with more juice or sugar, then drizzle this over the cooled cake on a plate. Serve immediately.
- Step 10 This cake can be sliced, placed between small pieces of parchment paper and frozen in a plastic freezer bag. To reheat, either defrost on the counter or microwave for about 30 seconds.
