Orange Cranberry Cake

A Festive Orange Cranberry Cake. There’s something magical about the combination of zesty orange and tart cranberries—an irresistible duo that feels like a celebration of the season. This orange and cranberry cake is a delightful blend of sweet citrus notes and tangy bursts of flavour, making it perfect for holidays, gatherings, or simply treating yourself to something special. With its moist texture, vibrant colors, and hint of Christmas flavours this cake captures the essence of comfort and festivity. Whether enjoyed with a cup of tea on a crisp afternoon or as the centerpiece of a dessert table, it’s sure to impress. Let’s dive into this easy yet elegant recipe and create a cake that tastes as good as it looks!

For this recipe for Orange Cranberry cake I used a decorative star shaped tin (I think it was originally from Ikea but they do not seem to sell it anymore) but if you don’t have a deep decorative tin like this you can just use a deep 8 inch round cake tin. The timings will be very similar so I just recommend using the skewer trick. Once you think it is cooked, insert a skewer into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean it is done.

The sponge for this cake is delicately orange flavoured but the real hit is in the icing glaze. Think of it as an orange alternative to a lemon drizzle. The icing is generously poured on and allowed to spill over the sides. It is then topped with dried cranberries which look like beautiful little jewels on to op the cake.

I love to make this cake at Christmas time as an alternative to the heavy fruit cakes you tend to get at this time of year.

If you’re looking for a more chocolatey cake for Christmas you could try my After Eight Cake.

Orange and Cranberry Cake

Difficulty: Easy

Servings

8-10

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

This Orange and Cranberry cake is a great festive alternative to a heavier fruit cake

Ingredients

• 225g Unsalted Butter

• 225G Self Raising Flour

• 1 tsp Baking Powder

• 100g Caster Sugar

• 100g Light Brown Sugar

• 4 Eggs

• Zest of 2 Oranges

• Decoration

• Juice of one Orange

• 400g Icing Sugar

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc and grease a decorative tin with butter. Make sure to get into all the corners. If you haven’t got a decorative tin use a deep 8in round tin.
• Mix all of the cake ingredients together using a hand or stand mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Bake for at least 30 minutes, until a stick comes out clean.
• Once cooled, carefully remove from the tin. Make the icing by mixing enough icing sugar with the juice to make a thick icing.
• Sprinkle some cranberries on top of the cake, pour over the icing and finish with more cranberries.