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Golden and finely crumbed, bursting with citrus and jeweled cranberries, this cranberry orange bundt cake is the best for the holiday season! Flavored with fresh orange zest and orange juice, each bite is soft and tender thanks to full fat buttermilk. Fresh cranberries add a burst of bright, tart flavor that pairs perfectly with the oranges. For ease, you can also make this cake with frozen cranberries.
Dressed up with a drizzle of sweet orange glaze and sparkling sugared cranberries, this cranberry orange cake makes a gorgeous table centerpiece and a wonderfully festive Christmas dessert.
Love baking with cranberries? You may also like my cranberry cheesecake recipe or cranberry crumb bars!
The Best Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
- Bring all of your cake ingredients to room temperature before beginning. When your butter, eggs, and buttermilk are all at room temperature, they mix together uniformly.
- Use fresh and sweet oranges for this bundt cake. You’ll need both orange zest and freshly squeezed orange juice.
- For an added burst of orange flavor, I like to make my own orange-sugar. To infuse the sugar, simply combine sugar and orange zest in a food processor and pulse for 1 minute until the orange zest is finely ground and the sugar is fragrant.
- Bake cake until golden and the top springs back to the touch. A tester inserted in the center should come out with a few crumbs attached. Your baking time may vary depending on the shape of your bundt pan, so start testing for doneness after 45 minutes.
- If desired, brush the warm cake with orange syrup. This step is optional – see full guidance in the recipe card.
- While the cake bakes, make the sugared cranberries for the topping. Once the cake is completely cool, drizzle with orange glaze and top with sugared cranberries. Enjoy!
Tips to Freeze
Let bundt cake cool completely on a wire rack. Once fully cooled, wrap in plastic wrap and then wrap again in foil or place the wrapped cake in a freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months.
The day before you plan to serve, let the cake thaw overnight in the refrigerator (still wrapped to prevent condensation), then bring to room temperature. Glaze just before serving.
Sugared Cranberries
- Place a wire rack over a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add fresh cranberries to the saucepan and coat completely in the simple syrup. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cranberries to the wire rack.
- Separate the cranberries into a single layer, spaced 1-inch apart. Let dry for 1 hour, then roll the cranberries in sugar to coat.
- Transfer sugared cranberries to a clean baking sheet and let dry for 1 hour before using.
More festive cranberry orange recipes:
- Cranberry Orange Snickerdoodles
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Cream Scones
Did you try this Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake Recipe? Let me know by leaving a comment below!
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Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake with Orange Glaze
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Golden and finely crumbed, bursting with citrus and jeweled cranberries, this is the BEST cranberry orange bundt cake for the holiday season! Fresh cranberries add a burst of bright, tart flavor that pairs perfectly with the oranges.
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 cups (267 g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp fresh orange zest
- 10 Tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs (100 g), at room temperature
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60 g) freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups (138 g) fresh cranberries, halved
Sugared Cranberries
- 2 Tbsp (25 g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp (30 g) water
- 1/2 cup (55 g) fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
Orange Glaze
- 1 Tbsp (14 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh orange zest
- 1 1/2 Tbsp (22 g) fresh orange juice
- 3/4 cup (90 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and generously butter and flour a 10-cup bundt pan (or use baking spray with flour).
- Make bundt cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; reserve one tablespoon flour mixture to toss with cranberries.
- Combine sugar and orange zest in a food processor and pulse for 1 minute until zest is finely ground. Combine orange-sugar with butter in a large mixer bowl and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add eggs one at a time. Combine buttermilk, orange juice, and vanilla in a small bowl. Beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture (begin and end with flour mixture), just until incorporated. Toss cranberries with reserved flour mixture and gently fold into batter.
- Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan and smooth with an offset spatula. Tap pan sharply to reduce air bubbles.
- Bake bundt cake for 45 to 50 minutes, until cake is golden, springs back to the touch, and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. If using frozen cranberries, baking will be approximately 5 minutes longer. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; carefully invert onto rack and cool completely. (If desired, make orange syrup to brush over the cake – see note below.)
- Make sugared cranberries: Place a wire rack over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Combine 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add cranberries to the saucepan and coat completely in the simple syrup. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cranberries to the wire rack. Separate the cranberries into a single layer, spaced 1-inch apart. Let dry for 1 hour, then roll the cranberries in 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar to coat. Transfer to a clean baking sheet and let dry for 1 hour before using.
- Make orange glaze: Whisk together melted butter, salt, orange zest and juice, and powdered sugar in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake and and let set before topping with sugared cranberries and serving.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.
Notes
Cranberries: If your cranberries are small, leave whole. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries for the cake. If you’re using frozen cranberries, simply add them to the batter still frozen (no need to thaw them first). The sugared cranberries for the garnish do need to be made from fresh cranberries, so you can skip that step if all you have on hand is frozen.
Optional orange syrup: Combine 3 tablespoons (45 g) orange juice and 3 tablespoons (38 g) sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and syrup thickens, about 4 minutes. Carefully invert cake onto rack and brush the warm cake with orange syrup. Let cool completely before glazing.
Make Ahead: You can make the cake in advance. Once fully cool, wrap well in plastic wrap and a freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months. The day before serving, move the cake to the refrigerator (still wrapped to prevent condensation) and defrost overnight. Bring to room temperature, remove plastic wrap, and add the orange glaze.
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This was a big hit in our house! This baker loves this recipe! I didn’t make the sugared cranberries but it still looked nice. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Christine! 🙂
Absolutely delicious cake.
Question: I made it in the same bundt pan as yours, but it did not release well. Any suggestions on how you do it? It came out in multiple parts, definitely could not show off the whole cake, had to rescue slices to serve and then we finished the “crumbs”
I’m sorry to hear that because I know it’s disappointing! What did you use to prepare the pan? Baking spray with flour tends to work really well to prevent sticking. If you use that, it’s best to spray the pan evenly just before adding the batter so that the spray doesn’t pool in the bottom of the pan while you work. I hope that helps for the future!