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Cranberry Orange Pound Cake, sliced, on a cake plate.
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Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

This soft and buttery Cranberry Orange Pound Cake has the perfect balance of citrus and cranberry flavor. Keep it in mind for fall and winter birthdays, holidays, and other celebrations!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 15
Author: Melissa and Bebe

Ingredients

  • 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (339g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups sugar (600g)
  • 5 large eggs, room temperature (you can warm them in a bowl of warm water if you are in a hurry)
  • 3 cups cake flour (not self rising) (342g) We used Swan's Down.
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon orange extract (16g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
  • orange zest from one orange
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed juice from one orange
  • 1 cup Buttermilk (235g)
  • 1½ cups sliced cranberries (we used frozen but fresh is fine also)
  • orange coloring is optional, we used a few drops

For the Orange Glaze

  • 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
  • ½ teaspoon orange extract (you could also use orange juice)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1-2 tablespoons Milk (Start with 1 tablespoon and increase a teaspoon at a time to reach desired consistency.)

Decoration

  • We used fresh cranberries to decorate the top (Frozen won't work as well for decoration because the juices will release).
  • light corn syrup- optional (see notes)

Instructions

  • Grease and flour a tube pan or bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
  • Chop the cranberries into small pieces. We placed the sliced cranberries in a strainer and rinsed them to wash away most of the seeds. (Seeds are soft, it is okay to have some seeds.) Gently pat dry and set aside.
  • Dry Ingredients: In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder for 30 seconds to combine. Set aside for later.
  • Wet Ingredients: Add the buttermilk, orange juice, orange extract, orange zest, and vanilla extract into a measuring cup or bowl. The buttermilk may become even more thick when the orange juice is added.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, mix the softened butter (use paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix until lightened in color and fluffy 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until the yellow of the yolk blends in.
  • With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. We do three additions of the flour mixture and two of the buttermilk mixture. You can add in a small amount of orange coloring if you would like. Mix the batter just until blended.
  • Gently stir in the sliced cranberries.
  • Scoop/spoon the batter into a prepared tube pan. Use the back of a spoon to smooth over the top to level.
  • Bake at 325 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with just a few crumbs attached.) Baking times can vary and so peek in as it approaches the 1 hour mark. If the top of the cake begins to get too dark, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.
  • This recipe makes approximately 8 cups of batter.
  • Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out onto serving plate.

For the Easy Orange Glaze

  • Combine sugar, extract/juice, milk, and salt in a bowl and stir until smooth.
  • Adjust consistency to your liking. To thicken, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add additional milk or juice bit by bit. Apply the glaze by spooning it over the cooled cake or by spooning into a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.

Decoration

  • After drizzling the glaze over cooled pound cake, we added fresh cranberries to the top as an optional step. For a little info on sugared cranberries, see our notes below.

Storage

  • This cake is fine to sit at room temperature in an airtight container or under a cake dome. After a few days, we like to move it to the refrigerator for freshness.

Notes

Freezing: This cake can be wrapped and frozen for up to three months! Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, followed by foil. To thaw, place in the refrigerator the night before, still wrapped. Move to room temperature the next morning. 
Substitution for Cake Flour: If you have no cake flour, here is a substitution: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.
Substitute for Buttermilk: No Buttermilk? Here is a substitution: Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to a measuring cup. To that, add milk to the 1 cup mark. Stir and allow to sit for a minute or two to thicken.
Sugared Cranberries- We wanted a "sugared cranberries" look to some of our fresh cranberries for decoration. There are lots of easy recipes online that take a bit longer with preparing simple syrup, dipping, tossing, and allowing to dry. If you are short on time as we were, just very lightly rub a bit of light corn syrup on the fresh cranberries and toss them in a bowl with a bit of granulated sugar. You'll get a similar look.