Cranberry Orange Cake
Martha’s Vineyard in the fall has its own unique beauty and seasonal rhythm. The crowds thin out, up-island beaches no longer require permits and driving to down-island towns no longer demands careful time planning.
In the 1980s at Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown, there was a pot of clove-laden apple cider on the roaring wood stove, and, as Thanksgiving approached, a large wooden bin of loose, fresh Cape Cod cranberries would appear. Scooping them into brown paper bags held much more appeal than buying the supermarket plastic bags, but also led to extreme cranberry over-purchasing. Once home, there would be a feverish period of looking through cookbooks (pre-Internet) for cranberry recipes.
This love of cranberries continues to this day, even without the rustic farm stand wooden bin. While looking through a new book on Bundt cakes, I was inspired by a Cranberry Bundt recipe. It led me to create this Cranberry Orange Cake, based on a trusted Blueberry cake recipe in my recipe files.
This delightful cake features a wonderful contrast between the tart crimson berry and the orange icing drizzled on top. An extra touch of sweetness is also added by the brown sugar and cinnamon layered in between the orange-scented sour cream batter.
Cranberry Orange Cake is an excellent early November baking project. After a small (or not so small) taste, wrap it well and freeze until Thanksgiving weekend, when it will serve as a wonderful breakfast treat or a lovely dessert, after your family has tired of the leftover desserts from Thursday’s dinner.
I used Nordic Ware’s Pirouette Bundt Pan but any 10 to 12-cup Bundt or tube pan will work nicely. As with any Bundt, be careful to spray or grease the pan very well to prevent sticking.
Cranberry Orange Cake
| 1 9 ½” cake | # of Servings: 10 | Method: Creaming |
Ingredients:
Cake:
3 cups (14 oz / 397 g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp (.20 oz / 6 g) baking powder
¾ tsp (.15 oz / 4 g) baking soda
¼ tsp (.20 oz / 6 g) salt
6 tbl (2.8 oz / 79 g) light brown sugar
1 ½ tbl (.45 oz / 13 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
12 tbl (6 oz / 170 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cup (10.5 oz / 297 g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbl orange zest, from 1 to 2 large oranges
1 cup sour cream
2 ¼ cups (9.25 oz / 212 g) cranberries, rinsed and dried.
Icing:
1 ½ cup (6.3 oz / 178 g) confectioners’ sugar
Zest from 1 orange
1 tbl orange fresh orange juice, approximate
Special tools and equipment needed:
- One 10 to 12-cup capacity Bundt pan
- Counter top mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer and bowl.
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Carefully butter and flour the Bundt pan, or place a can of release spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy or Pam for Baking near your prep area. You will apply it just prior to filling the pan. Do not use regular cooking spray.
- Rinse the cranberries under cold water, place on cookie pan lined with clean kitchen towel or paper towel.
- Rinse, zest, and juice oranges.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
Directions:
- In medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Set aside.
- In small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In machine bowl, cream together butter (KA speed 5) until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl periodically to ensure an even mixture.
- Crack and beat the eggs into a 1 cup-liquid measuring cup or a small bowl and beat with the vanilla.
- Add slowly to the butter mixture, scraping down the bowl periodically to ensure an even mixture.
- Beat in the orange rind.
- On low speed (KA speed 1) Add the dry mixture in three stages, alternating with the sour cream in two stages, beginning and ending with the flour. On the final addition of flour, mix for just a second, leaving the mixture not totally blended.
- Add the cranberries, and mix just until smooth. Do not overmix.
- If using baker’s release spray with flour, spray the Bundt pan well.
- The pan will be filled with three layers of cake batter and two layers of the brown sugar filling. Scrape one third of the batter into the Bundt pan and smooth the batter. Sprinkle one half of the brown sugar mixture over the batter. Scrape another third of the batter over the brown sugar. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the second cake batter layer. Scrape the final third of the cake batter over the brown sugar mixture and smooth.
- Bake until the cake feels firm to the touch and a cake tester comes out clean, from 50 to 60 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Place a cooling rack over the cake, and flip to invert the cake onto the rack. Let cool.
Glaze the cake:
- Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add just enough of the orange juice to make a thick glaze that will hold its shape when drizzled over the cake.
- If too thick, add more orange juice, a teaspoon at a time. If too thin, add more confectioners; sugar a tablespoon at a time.
- Using a dinner fork, drizzled the glaze over the cake. Alternatively, fill a small pastry bag with the glaze, snip a small opening and pipe the glaze with a back-and-forth motion over the cake.
- Let set until the glaze firms and hardens. Cake is best left unsliced for at least 3 hours.
- Store cake at room temperature for up to 3 days. Leftovers may be wrapped well with plastic film and frozen for one month.
Baking tip:
Giving the cranberries a very rough chop in a food processor or by hand, produces a slightly less tart overall taste experience.
