A moist orange zest cake with fresh cranberries with a sweet cream cheese orange frosting. A sweet yet tart holiday cake.
I am just going to start off with this — THIS CAKE IS INSANELY AMAZING. Okay I said it. It is ridiculously moist with a burst of fresh orange flavor and tangy tart cranberries. Then the cream cheese orange zest frosting puts it over the top. This is the perfect holiday cake to highlight fresh cranberries that are in season right now.
We live by groves and groves of orange trees. This is the time of year where fresh oranges are in abundance and we have dear friends who let us picks fresh oranges and lemons from their trees every year. I love using fruits when they are in season because they are at their peak ripeness. Both oranges and cranberries are in season in December and this cake highlights them perfectly.
I absolutely love baking homemade cakes because they taste so much better than boxed cake mixes. I only put my very favorite cake recipes on Modern Honey and my Mom has declared this her new favorite MH recipe. If you have tried my ORANGE CAKE RECIPE before, you will fall in love with this Fresh Cranberry and Orange Cake.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
zest of one orange – about 1 tablespoon
juice of an orange
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
For the Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 – 3 tablespoons water, milk or orange juice
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cranberries on the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
Cream together butter and sugar until sugar turn a lemon color, about 4 – 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and mix in until incorporated.
Add the orange juice and zest. Add the sour cream.
When incorporated add the flour, salt and baking powder. When this is all mixed together stir in the remaining 1 1/4 cups cranberries.
Bake for 50 – 55 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Let pan set for 5 minutes after you take the cake out of the oven. Turn over cake unto a wire rack to cool. Mix up your glaze ingredients and spread on top and sides of cake.