I know. It’s ANOTHER cranberry recipe.
What can I say? I’m on a cranberry binge. It happens. Maybe this binge is a latent expression of my angst over those many years when that wiggly cranberry-sauce-in-a-can graced our Thanksgiving table–you know, the one with the ridged can lines.
So, I needed yet another cranberry recipe.
I kept reading positive reviews on this recipe on a cooking board I read, bought the cookbook and gave this cake a try. The cookbook is The Vanilla Bean Baking Book by Sarah Kieffer. It is available at your local bookstore and on Amazon (here). Sarah Kiefer is also the author of the wonderful 100 Cookies cookbook.
Thought I would share my take on the recipe here on this last day of November as we head into the serious holiday season.
By the way (and strangely), this cake is way better on the third day after baking. Like the rest of us, it improves with age.
Orange-Cranberry Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 3 C. all-purpose flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 3/4 t. salt
- 3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 1/4 C. sugar
- 1 T. grated orange zest
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 t. vanilla extract
- 1 T. Grand Marnier
- 1/4 C. orange juice
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1/4 C. heavy cream
- 2 heaping cups of cranberries (I used frozen)
- Sugared Cranberries and Sugared Sage Leaves For Garnish
- For The Glaze:
- 1 1/2 C. confectioner's sugar
- 2 to 4 T. whole milk (I used 3 T.)
- 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Directions
- Step 1 To make the cake, prepare a bundt pan by greasing it generously. I used a canola oil spray. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and adjust rack in your oven to the middle position.
- Step 2 Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Step 3 Put the butter into the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment. Beat the butter on medium speed until it is creamy. Add the sugar and orange zest and mix for another 2 or 3 minutes until the butter mixture is fluffy. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each egg addition. Scrape down the sides of your mixer bowl.
- Step 4 Add the vanilla extract and the Grand Marnier to your batter.
- Step 5 Add one third of the flour mixture to the batter.
- Step 6 Add the orange juice and lemon juice. Mix on low to combine.
- Step 7 Add half the remaining flour and the heavy cream. Mix to combine.
- Step 8 Add the remaining flour and mix until the dry ingredients are just combined. This is a thick and heavy batter!
- Step 9 Fold the cranberries into the batter. I used frozen cranberries and just folded them into the batter.
- Step 10 Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Place the bundt pan on a rack in the center of your oven and bake for 60 to 75 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick or wooden skewer comes out relatively clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
- Step 11 Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes and then carefully invert the cake on a serving plate. This is the step where you will thank yourself for greasing the bundt pan generously.
- Step 12 To make the Glaze:
- Step 13 Combine glaze ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add more milk, one tablespoon at a time, to get the consistency you want on the glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let the cake sit for a while to dry the glaze. Decorate with sugared cranberries and sugared sage leaves.
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