My husband and I are big fans of the Great British Baking Show (if you haven’t seen it, power up Netflix right now!) and the other night we were watching a contestant bake a cranberry orange flavored dessert. While I’ve never really been all that intrigued to use those flavors before, my husband leaned over and said, “A cranberry orange cake would be delicious. You should make it.” It’s because of him that I found myself in the kitchen zesting oranges and rolling cranberries in sugar, wide-eyed at the Holiday scents filling the air. I ended up with a delicious orange flavored cake dotted with fresh, juicy cranberries, topped with zesty orange buttercream and tons of Christmas cheer! Thanks for the suggestion, husband. You were right.
Cranberry and orange are a classic Holiday pairing, making this cake ideal for any festive gathering. It’s got a moist, light crumb and is so pleasantly aromatic (your kitchen will smell amazing). The sweetness of it all is balanced perfectly with the tartness of the cranberries, giving it just the right amount of zing. Much like any citrus cake, the orange flavoring comes mostly from the zest. You’ll want to zest one super large orange (or two smaller ones) before you get started with this recipe, and keep in mind that you’ll be dividing the zest between the cake batter and buttercream.
I used fresh, whole cranberries in this cake recipe, but word on the street is that you can use frozen whole cranberries as a substitute. If you do, just make sure you don’t thaw them before adding them to the cake batter. And a pro tip for making sure they don’t sink to the bottom of your cake pan in the baking process: toss them in some flour before folding them in! The coating of flour keeps them suspended, and this trick also works with things like chocolate chips, sprinkles, and pretty much anything you would want to fold into cake batter. Life changing!
This cake tastes incredible with orange buttercream (recipe below), which is what I used to fill and frost it. As an alternative, you could also pair this cranberry orange cake with vanilla buttercream or cream cheese buttercream and either choice would be delicious. I love how the orange buttercream enhances the flavor of this cake and if you look real close, you can see tiny flecks of orange zest! Flecked buttercream always makes me swoon.
In all honesty, my first attempt at decorating this cake was almost disastrous. I had this idea in my mind to tint the buttercream a light orange and give it a retro look, but what actually happened was the buttercream ended up looking like the color of a bandaid. I kept holding up the orange slices and sugared cranberries next to it and telling myself that the color scheme would look better on the cake, but in the end it just wasn’t as pretty as the natural color of the buttercream, so I started all over again and saved the other batch for another cake project.
To decorate, I frosted a smooth layer of orange buttercream and piped portions of the cake with Wilton Tip 4B (for the stars) and Wilton Tip 1M (for the rosettes). Then I added sugared cranberries (I used this recipe for those) and some candied orange slices from Trader Joe’s. Holiday cake perfection inside and out!
Cranberry Orange Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cranberry Orange Cake
- 2 1/2 Cups (260g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (335g) granulated white sugar
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp orange zest from about 1/2 large orange
- 1/4 Cup (60g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 Cup (177ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 Cup (59ml) fresh squeezed orange juice from about 1/2 large orange
- 1 1/2 Cups fresh whole cranberries coated in 1 Tbsp flour
Orange Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp orange zest from about 1/2 large orange
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
- 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- pinch of salt, or to taste
Instructions
Make The Cranberry Orange Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and placing a wax or parchment paper circle into the bottom of each one. Measure the cake flour by spooning into your measuring cup and leveling it. Place it into a medium sized bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. Mix together the orange juice and whole milk and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in white granulated sugar and continue to mix on high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the orange zest, sour cream, and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium-high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the whole milk and orange juice mixture in a steady stream and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. Make sure the cranberries are coated in 1 Tbsp of flour, then gently fold them into the batter.
- Pour batter evenly between the cake pans (fill them no more than ⅔ full) and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan for ten minutes before removing and continuing to cool on a wire rack or flat surface.
Make The Orange Buttercream
- With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter with the orange zest on medium-high until the butter is creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add the orange juice, milk, and salt and mix on medium-low for another two minutes until fully incorporated.
Assembly
- Once the Cranberry Orange Cakes have cooled completely, fill and frost the layers with Orange Buttercream. To create the design pictured, fit one piping bag with Wilton Tip 4B and another piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M before filling each with the remaining Orange Buttercream. Pipe rosettes and stars onto the top of the cake in a crescent moon shape, then pipe some more onto the bottom of the cake on the opposite side. Add some sugared cranberries and candied orange slices wherever you wish!
Notes
- The cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
- The Orange Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency.
What are some of your favorite Holiday cake recipes? This cranberry orange cake has become one of mine! Let me know what you’re baking right now and if you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment to let me know how you like it and tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me!
I’ve made 5 or 6 of your cake recipes, and everyone has been incredible! But I think this is my favorite! Beyond delicious!
Yay, Jessica! So happy you’ve been loving my recipes and that this one is your fave! Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
I hate when people try to change recipes, but I only have 3 8” pans. Any idea how I could convert this recipe, but just can’t swing buying more cake pans right now. TIA
Hi Teresa! No worries at all – you can make 1.5x this recipe to make enough batter for three 8 inch pans. Just multiply each ingredient by 1.5 to get the correct amounts and use 5 eggs (since that math would end up being 4.5). Bake the cakes at the same oven temp and check them at 30 minutes to see if they need more time. Enjoy!
Cake was divine. Buttercream was slack and not particularly flavorful. I even cut down on the liquid (did 4 T of fresh squeezed orange juice instead of 2 juice and 3 milk) and it wasn’t a success.
Thanks for the feedback, Alice! So happy you loved the cake recipe. Did you try the buttercream recipe as-is first before making those alterations? The flavor should come partly from the orange juice but mostly from the zest.
I am unable to find fresh cranberries, would dried cranberries work for this recipe?
You absolutely can! Use an equal amount and be sure to coat them in flour first so they don’t sink in the cake batter.
Hi Whitney! I just loved this recipe and I LOVE your blog! Your photos and writing are amazing! I have a question about this cake or cakes in general. I anticipated this cake to be more “fluffy” and “airy” and it actually turned out quite dense. It seemed very firm. It was not a bad thing, and still tasted great. The texture was just not what I was expecting. I have had this happen with other cakes I have made in the past. Particularly a similar recipe with cranberries. Any suggestions on how to make a cake airy, light and fluffier? I am not sure if being in the fridge throughout the process and over- night (I did let it come to room temp for 2-3 hours before serving) or if adding a cranberry filling along with the frosting did it? I also brushed the cakes with a very small amount of orange simple syrup??? Maybe the cakes were baked a little too long? Or maybe it was a combo of all of the above?? Regardless, the response from everyone was it was a delish cake! Thank you for the recipe and all your work sharing your blog with us!
Hi Lisa! I’m so happy this recipe was a hit! Usually when cakes turn out dense they are either over-mixed or the ingredients weren’t room temp. Here are some other reasons and more details: https://cakedecorist.com/why-is-my-cake-dense/ this cake should have a moist, fluffy crumb but it’s not meant to be super airy. Hope that helps for next time!
Hi again Whitney! Thank you for your quick response 🙂 I read that article and I can see a few mistakes I may have made. Thanks for the resource!
I do have another question. In your photos, your cake looks very white. Mine was very yellow in color. Did you use whole eggs or just egg whites? I am not sure how to get the cake to be a lighter color with using whole eggs? Thanks again!
I’m glad that resource was helpful! As for the color of the cake, it might be more yellow if the egg yolks you used are more saturated (organic eggs tend to have much more saturated yolks). I used whole eggs as the recipe states.
How do you get the fruit to stick around the bottom of the cake? I tried placing sliced strawberries around the bottom of one of my cakes after chilling the frosting, and then moving it back into the fridge. Most of the strawberries kept falling off.
Hi Nikki! You can always place a dab of fresh buttercream where you want to place the fruit, it will stick better to fresh/slightly sticky buttercream vs. chilled buttercream.