Orange Cranberry Cake

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5 from 1 vote

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This gorgeous cake is not only bursting with flavor but it is the tastiest kind of centerpiece on your holiday table.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword decorated cakes, fancy desserts, Holiday Baking, holiday cakes, simple sweets

Servings slices

Calories 695kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Candied Garnishes

2 Oranges
1 cup fresh cranberries
4-6 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 cups sugar granulated, divided
4 cups water

Cranberry Jam

10 oz cranberries fresh
1 cup sugar granulated
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Orange Cinnamon Cake

3 1/2 cups soft white wheat flour 420 g
2 cups sugar, granulated 475 g
1 cup greek yogurt 255 g
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
4 eggs divided
1 1/2 cups coconut oil, melted 326 g
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Redmonds Real Salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp orange zest reserve liquid for icing

Cranberry Buttercream

1 pound butter unsalted
6 cups powdered sugar sifted
1/4 cup cranberry jam
2 Tbsp orange juice

Simple Syrup Glaze (optional-for glazing cakes)

1 cup sugar granulated
1 cup water

Instructions

Garnishes

Slice 2 oranges 1/4 inch thick.
Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Drop orange slices into the water for 5 minutes and quickly move to a bowl of ice water to blanch. This will help preserve the texture and bright color of the orange.
Empty the sauce pan and refill with 3 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar. Heat just until the sugar is dissolved.
In a small glass bowl, place cranberries and rosemary. Pour 1 cup of the simple syrup over the cranberries and let sit for 1 hour.
The remaining syrup on the stove, add the blanched orange slices and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
After the cranberries and rosemary have soaked for 1 hour, remove and place on a wire rack to dry. After they dry for 1 hour, toss in more granulated sugar. Reserve the liquid to glaze your cakes when assembling.
Once the oranges are done simmering for one hour, add them to the wire rack and allow to cool. The oranges do not need to be coated in additional granulated sugar like the cranberries and rosemary.

Orange Cinnamon Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 ℉
Mill your soft white wheat berries into flour. Sift the flour separating the bran out and place in a small glass bowl.
To the bran, add your milk and allow to sit and soften for 20 minutes.
To the rest of the flour, add baking powder, baking soda, salt, orange zest and cinnamon. Set aside.
To the stand mixer, add your eggs white and whip to soft peaks. Remove and set aside.
Now, to the empty stand mixer, add yogurt, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Place your coconut oil on the stove in a small sauce pan to melt.
Slowly sprinkle in the flour and additional dry ingredients to your yogurt mixture in the mixer. Alternately add the melted coconut oil.
Finally add your milk and bran to the mixer.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the egg whites, just until combined.
Prepare 3, 9" pans by cutting parchment rounds to fit the bottom of the pan. Spray with oil to coat the sides and parchment.
Divide your batter evenly between the 3 pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Cranberry Jam

While the cake bakes, make your cranberry jam.
Place Cranberries, sugar and lemon juice into a sauce pan and stir to coat.
Simmer for 15 minutes, mashing and stirring to crush the cranberries.
Place jam into a glass dish or jar to cool.

Cranberry Icing

While the cranberry jam cools, start on your icing.
Place room temperature butter into your stand mixer and beat until smooth.
Sift powdered sugar and slowly add to the butter.
Add 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice from the orange zested for the cake.
Once the cranberry jam is cooled, add 1/4 cup to the icing.
If your icing is too soft to ice with, place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to stiffen up before icing the cake.

Assembling the Orange Cranberry Cake

Glaze your cakes and cut off the tops: Remove cakes from the pan and place on a flat surface with the domed side of the cake facing up. I like to do this on my turntable. Take your serrated knife and work your way around the perimeter of the cake, gently pressing in further each time around, until you get to the center of the cake top and have a level cake!
I always keep a simple syrup on hand to glaze my cakes. With a squirt bottle or pastry brush, generously coat each layer before you assemble your cake. For this recipe, you could use the glaze you soaked your cranberries and rosemary in. Otherwise a simple sugar and water syrup will work.
Place one layer of the cake onto a cake plate or cardboard round. Scoop some icing onto the cake and create a thin layer of icing to coat the cake. Using a pastry bag filled with the cranberry icing, squirt a ring around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with a generous portion of the cranberry jam.
Repeat this step with the second layer of cake.
Top with the third layer of cake.
Take your spatula and apply a thin layer of icing around the sides and top if the cake, called a crumb coat.
Place in the refrigerator for 15-20 mintues to allow the icing to set up so your layers don't shift while icing.
Remove the cake from the fridge and add more icing to the sides and top of the cake until there is no cake showing through.
Get creative with how you finish the cake design here. Create a textured look to your icing and add the candied fruit to the top of the cake.

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