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Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake is an easy and beautiful cake to feed the whole family during the holiday season. This tart and sweet bundt cake is topped with an orange glaze for the perfect finish.
I don’t know what it is about this year, but I am so far behind with holiday shopping right now. I was really ahead, but then I kind of just gave up. And if I’m being honest, just the thought of entering a mall right now gives me anxiety, so I’m thinking it’s going to be the year of the gift cards for quite a few people on my list.
One thing I’m not behind with is holiday baking. In fact, today I’m planning on making peanut butter blossoms and mint chocolate cookies with my girl today.
We may even whip up a couple of batches of snowflake sugar cookies because they are current favorite cookie recipe at the moment.
Glazed Cranberry Orange Cake
As Christmas gets closer and closer, I’m starting to look at the piles of cranberries in my freezer and realizing I might have gone overboard.
But it’s so easy to grab a bag of fresh cranberries every time I’m at the grocery store! And I do love making homemade cranberry sauce and cranberry orange scones, so having extras on hand is always nice.
But…I should probably use some of them up.
So I grabbed my stand mixer, a bag of cranberries, and my zester and put together this easy Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake.
Bundt cakes are great for the holidays because they easily feed as many people as you need, and what better flavor combination for Christmas than cranberries and orange?
This cranberry orange cake is sweet, full of orange flavor, and bursting with fresh cranberries.
The cake is topped with an easy powdered sugar and orange juice glaze for a simple finish. You could even top the cake with sugared cranberries if you want to make it look super fancy.
How to Make this Bundt Cake
As far as made-from-scratch cakes go, this Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake recipe is pretty simple. You’ll need:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups orange juice
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
Start by whisking together the dry ingredients. Set those aside while you prep the wet ingredients.
In a large bowl, mix together the orange zest and sugar until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. This is my favorite trick to get the flavor of citrus zest to really shine through in baked goods.
Mix in the softened butter, followed by the eggs, vanilla, and orange juice.
Stir in the dry ingredients, then gently fold in the cranberries.
Spread the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake for 70-75 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
I always let my bundt cakes cool at least 10-15 minutes in the pan before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cranberry orange cake has completely cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and a bit more orange juice. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and serve!
More Holiday Bundt Cakes for Your Table
If you have a large family, bundt cakes are a great cake option for the holidays. They’re easy to make, look pretty without a lot of frosting or decorating, and feed a crowd.
Check out these festive bundt cake recipes that would be perfect for your Christmas dessert table.
Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Citrus Poppy Seed Cake
Dark Chocolate Cranberry Bundt Cake
Chocolate Peppermint Mini Bundt Cakes
Turtle Cake
Eggnog Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze
Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups orange juice
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a bundt pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and orange zest until fragrant. Add in the butter and mix until well combined, stir in the egg and combine until smooth. Stir in orange juice and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture until just moistened (DO NOT OVERMIX); fold in cranberries. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for about 70-75 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes; turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
- When the cake is thoroughly cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice, adding more orange juice or more powdered sugar as needed to achieve your desired consistency. Spread or drizzle the glaze over the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks delicious!! What size mini bundt pan did you use? A pan for 6 or 12 mini cakes? Thanks!
Hello! I used a pan for 6 cakes, but I think the 12 would work as well. Just cut down on the baking time. Let me know if I can help you further!
How did you get your glaze to be so white? No matter what I did it did not look like yours. SUGGESTIONS????
Hi, Rhonda! Maybe cut back on the orange juice a bit? I hope you enjoyed them regardless!
Could i use dried cranberries. I have no access to fresh ones here in the south pacific? If so, how many to use? Thanks ever so
Gill
Gillian, you sure can. Probably about half as much as the recipe calls for. Simply reconstitute them in water for an hour before adding them to the recipe. Discard the water.
Hi Jamie,
Thanks! Christmas and citrus were made for each other, I think.
These look too good to eat but I’m going to give them a go this week.:)
Do you think substituting butter for margarine would work? Would it be a 1:1 ?
Many thanks!
Monica
Hi Monica,
I’ve never done it, but I believe margarine and butter are pretty interchangeable at a 1:1 ratio in baking.
– Jamie
You had me at “cranberries”! I think I’ll make this for Thanksgiving treats for some of the neighbors. There are so many cranberry bread/cake recipes out there, but I know I can always count on your site to provide an original twist on old favorites. Thanks.
Paula-
Thank you so much! I’m thrilled you’ll be sharing the recipe with your neighbors! Have a wonderful day and happy holidays!
-Jamie
I have little bundt cake pans and love anything crandberry and orange…can’t wait to try these! Thank you! Perfect for this time of year that’s for sure! :)
These look delicious! I’m a citrus maniac and I’m always in search of a new citrus dessert. Yum!
Looks delicious! I love orange/cranberry.
I just finished making applesauce minis in my mini bundt pans. Don't you love how much better they look then the full sized cakes? Cranberry and orange are a fantastic combination.