Infused with orange flavor and studded with juicy cranberries, this Orange Cranberry Cake is the perfect festive dessert for your Thanksgiving and holiday tables.
Thanksgiving is three days away (can you believe it?) and I have the perfect dessert for your table. Just in case you have non-pie lovers coming over or if you don’t want to go through the fuss of making a pie, here’s a beautiful and festive Orange Cranberry Cake.
The punch in orange flavor in the cake is due to orange zest-infused milk. When you heat milk and orange zest together, the oils from the zest release and creates the most wonderful orange-flavored cake I have ever tasted. I’m not kidding. I generally don’t enjoy orange-flavored desserts, but in this cake, I LOVE it!
Then, there’s the cranberries. The cake is studded with juicy cranberries, some of which pop, so what you end up with is spontaneous cranberry flavor in varying bites, not to mention the pretty marble effect.
Add some fluffy orange frosting and some sugared cranberries and you’ve got a dessert that’s perfect for your all your holiday needs. Initially, I thought I would cover the entire Orange Cranberry Cake in frosting, but I liked the idea of showing off the cranberries on the side, so I kept it a naked cake :)
Let me take you through quickly how I assembled this naked cake so you can see how easy it is. First, make sure you allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before removing it. If the cake is still warm when you try to remove it, it may not come out in one piece (trust me, I know what I’m talking about). Then, pop the layers in the freezer for 1 hour. It’ll help make the soft cake easier to manage.
I filled a piping bag fitted with an open star tip with the frosting and piped concentric circles of frosting onto one layer. Then, I topped it with the second layer and pressed down gently.
Once the top layer was on, I just used the same open star tip to pipe on a border and garnished it with sugared cranberries.
You only need to fill the cake rounds half way, so you will probably end up with leftover batter. I don’t know about you, but I hate to waste unused batter, so if you’re like me, go ahead and make mini cupcakes! Just fill the liners ⅔ full and reduce the baking time to 30 – 32 minutes.
Orange Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup whole or 1% milk
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (from about 1 large navel orange)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 cup fresh cranberries*
Orange Frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp heavy cream
- 1 tbsp orange zest (about 1 large navel orange)
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- ⅛ tsp vanilla extract
- Fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease two 6-inch round cake pans.
- In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, whisk together the milk and zest. Heat until small bubbles form along the rim, but do not let boil. Transfer to a glass measuring cup to cool to lukewarm, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Lower the speed to medium-low and add the egg and egg whites one at a time, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
- Lower the mixer to low and stir in half of the flour mixture until combined. Add the lukewarm milk mixture and stir until mostly combined. Scrap down the sides, if necessary, and add the remaining flour mixture. Stir until just combined.
- In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over the cranberries. Toss until cranberries are coated. Fold the floured cranberries into the batter and discard any unused flour.
- Fill each of the prepared cake pans half way. Bake for 38 – 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely in pans on a cooling rack, about 1 hour.
- Run an offset spatula or thin knife along the side of the cake and release. Frost as desired with Orange Frosting.
Orange Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until pale and creamy. Reduce speed to medium-low and slowly add the sugar. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the cream, zest, juice, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and a spreadable consistency. Add salt, if needed and to taste.
Notes
Storage
Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Cake and frosting adapted and modified from The Sprinkles Baking Book
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