Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
Golden and finely crumbed, bursting with citrus and jeweled cranberries, this cranberry orange bundt cake is the best for the holiday season!
Dressed up with a drizzle of sweet orange glaze and sparkling sugared cranberries, this beauty makes a gorgeous table centerpiece and a wonderfully festive holiday dessert.
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 citrus 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.
- 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!
How 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.
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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:
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
- 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!
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) low-fat 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.
- 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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Keywords: Cranberry, Orange, Bundt, Bundt Cake
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Made this yesterday. Its a great, elegant cake. Subtle flavors, nice texture, and not overly-sweet. A big hit at my home.
★★★★★
Hi Valerama, thank you so much for your feedback!
I made this cake over the holidays and everyone loved it. The orange glaze is so good!
★★★★★
Hi Elyse, so happy to hear that. Thanks for trying this recipe! 🙂
Amazing recipe, cran-orange Bundt cake. Made this for Epiphany 2023. I’m in the west and the oranges are sweet this season and up from Arizona just in time for this recipe.
★★★★★
That’s so wonderful to hear, thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
This cake turned out very well. The flavors are well balanced and I really like the pop of freshness from the cranberries.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Nina. So glad you tried this cake!
Delicious!! Fabulous recipe. I definitely recommend using fresh cranberries if possible. I will make again!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for your feedback, Abby! Happy New Year! 🙂
Great bundt cake recipe! Yesterday was the third time I’ve made this in the last few months. Wonderful holiday season cake and everyone loves the cake and the candied cranberries. Thank you!
★★★★★
Hi Paula, that’s so wonderful to hear! Merry Christmas! 🙂
Stunning recipe! Followed the instructions (almost to a T) the only thing I did not do is chop up the cranberries for folding (they were not large enough) but this cran-orange bundt is now my new go-to 🙂 I love the orange zest-sugar process. In fact I put in more than 2 tbsp worth of zest and adjusted the orange juice (which I squeezed fresh from the orange where I took the zest) to 2 tbsp and WOW talk about zing! I proceeded to make 4 other cakes for Christmas presents and I don’t even have to wait for ppl’s feedback to know this will be holiday hit! Thank you and I’ll be sure to check out you other cake recipes.
★★★★★
Thank you so much for your feedback, Autom – this absolutely makes my day! 🙂 Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!
Could I make these in mini Bundt pan?
How long would they need to bake?
Thank you
Shelly
Hi Shelly, yes you can. Depending on the size of the pan, this recipe will make 6 to 8 mini (individual) bundt cakes. Baking time will be approximately 24 to 26 minutes.
Brought this cake to a Christmas party…. It was a hit!! 10/10
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Connie! So glad you tried this recipe! 🙂
Hello, can we use frozen cranberries instead of fresh ones?
Hi Aastha, you can use frozen cranberries for the cake – simply add them to the batter still frozen. The sugared cranberries for the garnish do need to be made from fresh cranberries, so you can skip that if all you have on hand is frozen.
I really want to make this but fresh cranberries are hard to find this time of year. Any suggestions for using dried (maybe reconstituting them)?
Hi Linda, I recommend using frozen cranberries (no need to thaw them first). If you do want to use dry cranberries, I would try soaking them in orange juice. Microwave 20-30 seconds, then let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before using.
I’ve been making this cake for the last three years. We currently have a cranberry shortage in Texas, luckily I was forward thinking at Thanksgiving and froze a bag of cranberries, I’ve now made this cake with both fresh and frozen cranberries both turned out fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing, my family and I love this cake!
★★★★★
I have been making this cake for almost 4 years and everybody in my family loves it. Definitely recommend making it!
★★★★★
I made this last year and it was both beautiful and delicious. All of my guests asked for the recipe. I followed it to a T and although time consuming, it was well worth it. I would like to make this again for New Years and am wondering if anyone has tried making any or all of the recipe ahead of time?
★★★★★
Hi Christine, thank you so much! 🙂 You can make the bundt cake one day ahead. Store the baked cake at room temperature overnight and glaze the next day before serving. The sugared cranberries can also be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
This is an amazing recipe — nice work. It involved things I had never done and it was a nice gentle introduction. You present a thorough and accurate set of instructions, and it came out perfect and delicious on the first (and the second, and the third) try — makes a lovely holiday drop-off gift.
★★★★★
That’s so wonderful to hear, thank you Ellen! 🙂