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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!
Success Tips
- 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.
- If desired, brush the warm cake with orange syrup to lock in the moisture and add another layer of orange flavor. Totally optional – see note in the recipe card.
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
Soft Moist 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 cranberry orange bundt cake is a showstopper 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.
- 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.
- Generously butter and flour a 10-cup bundt pan (or use baking spray with flour). 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.
This is a fantastic recipe! I love the small details that help bring out the flavor of the cake!
Thank you so much, so glad you tried this cake! 🙂
Laura, your recipes are amazing. I have a question about this cake. I just found out that one of my friends love anything cranberry orange flavor. Then, I saw this cake which would be good for her birthday. Unfortunately, her birthday is in April. Can I use frozen cranberries?
Thanks Linda! 🙂 You can use frozen cranberries for the cake – simply add them in still frozen. The sugared cranberries for the garnish need to be made from fresh cranberries, so in this case you can just skip them. Hope that helps!
I got the email featuring this cake today and decided to make it for my wife. Oh my god it is so delicious. She loved it and so did I. I did make a slight change though, sorry!!! I added some of the left over orange zest to the glaze, it tastes amazing. By the way, yes those sugar cranberries are very good, I kept eating them while glazing and cooling of the cake.
So happy to hear that, Orlando! Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
Always a drool worthy recipe 🤤😅. I can’t wait to make this 🤗 and from all of the comments here,I do believe that I will not be disappointed 😉. Thank you Laura for sharing all of your wonderful recipes with us all ✌
Can’t wait for you to try this cake, Esther! 🙂
This cake not only tasted delicious but was picture perfect! Such a festive cake for the holidays! So moist!
Thanks so much, Caitlan! So glad you tried this recipe! 🙂
Laura, have you ever frozen this cake then added the glaze and sugared cranberries when defrosted? I would like to bake this cake in advance for an upcoming holiday party to save me some time on the day of the party. Any advise?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa! Yes, you can make the cake in advance. Once fully cool, wrap well and freeze. The day before your party, move the cake to the refrigerator (still wrapped to prevent condensation) and defrost overnight. Bring to room temperature, remove plastic wrap, and glaze. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks Laura. This will be very helpful and give me less stress so that I too can enjoy my holiday dinner!
Lisa
DELICIOUS! Before this I was of the opinion that it wasn’t dessert if it wasn’t chocolate but this is possibly the best dessert I have ever had! It’s beauty definitely equaled it’s taste as well! Thank you for the wonderful recipe that I will be making again on Christmas!
Thanks so much, Christine! That’s so great to hear! 🙂
I just tried this after searching and searching for a good cranberry-orange bundt cake recipe, and I’m so glad I kept searching until I found this! Even though I overcreamed the butter and suger, the cake is so fluffy without being dry at all, and the orange is much subtler than expected, making it taste like an actual delicious cake rather than a bomb of orange flavor being dropped on your tongue in cake disguise. Thank you for this recipe! I have two questions – even though I coated them in the flour mixture, most of my cranberries still sunk to the top of the bundt rather than being evenly distributed all over. Do you have any tips for that? Also, what is your advice on freezing this?
Hi Myrthe, thanks so much – so glad to hear that you liked the cake! 🙂 I’m not sure why the cranberries sunk – usually the flour helps with that, but you could also try tossing them in a few teaspoons of cornstarch next time. If you haven’t glazed the cake yet, then I would freeze it unglazed. However, if you have leftover slices, you can freeze them flat on a baking sheet and then wrap well for longer storage.
Last year, I made this as written & it turned out gorgeous and delicious. This year, I made a few modifications. I replaced a bit of the orange juice in the cake with orange liqueur and added a drop or two of orange flavoring. I also replaced just a bit of the oj in the glaze with orange liqueur. The flavor isn’t as subtle as the original, but still yummy. Thanks for a wonderful & impressive recipe!
Thanks so much, Hunter! So glad you enjoyed the cake – your variations sound delicious. Have a wonderful holiday season!
I made this for a party yesterday using Gluten free flour and it turned out wonderful. It was a big hit. All the flavors come out and help make it a perfect holiday cake. Thank you for this recipe!
Thanks so much, Lori! So glad you enjoyed the cake – have a wonderful holiday season!
This is breathtakingly gorgeous!
Made this cake last week. It was fabulous! So pretty too. Wish I could post a picture. Thanks for the recipe.