My cranberry orange cake is a celebration of bright seasonal flavors that’s easy to make, moist, and so festive. It’s great for gifting, snacking, and holiday mornings.

cranberry orange cake is perfect any time of day
It’s an unpretentious cake meant for breakfast, coffee time, or any time snacking. The colors and flavors are bright and vivacious thanks to fresh cranberries and my special orange sugar, which infuses citrus flavor like nothing else can. It’s based on my ever popular cranberry breakfast cake, which is delicious on its own, but somehow the addition of orange takes it over the top.
what you’ll need
- fresh cranberries ~ you can also use frozen.
- orange zest ~ you’ll remove the zest of one orange with a vegetable peeler (just the orange part, none of the bitter white pith.)
- sugar
- butter
- egg
- buttermilk
- flour
- baking powder and salt
- vanilla extract
- sparkling sugar to give it that extra twinkle and crunch on top.
how to make orange sugar for the brightest citrus flavor!
Orange sugar is simply sugar that has been infused with orange zest. By processing the two together you get the most impactful orange flavor possible in this cake. Here’s how to do it:
- Peel the zest off of an orange with a vegetable peeler. Just remove the orange part, not the bitter white pith. A sharp serrated vegetable peeler works great.
- Put the orange zest and sugar in a food processor.
- Process for about a minute until the zest is fully incorporated and the sugar is beautifully orange.
- You’ll be left with a moist fragrant sugar with the consistency of brown sugar, only instead of a molasses flavor, it has a bright vibrant orange zing!
citrus sugar in other recipes
Once you’ve tried this technique you’ll realize there are lots of other uses for it. Here are just a few of the ways I use lemon and orange sugar:
- lemon crumb cake
- lemon crunch cake
- lemon shortbread
- cranberry orange bread
- orange creamsicle cake
- lemon cake with lemon poppy seed frosting
Whenever you’ve got a recipe that you want to infuse with citrus flavor, you can use this method.
why this cranberry orange cake works
YOU CAN TRUST THE RECIPE. This is a tried and true recipe with a sturdy batter that bakes up easily and reliably. It’s moist, with lots of vivid flavor so you can be proud to serve it to guests, or give as a gift from your kitchen.
THE FLAVOR IS FABULOUS. The cranberry/orange combination is such a wonderful flavor pairing, with the sweetness of the orange balancing out the tart berries.
IT’S ADAPTED FROM A FAN FAVORITE. I adapted this from my original cranberry breakfast cake, which has rave reviews.
more breakfast and snack cakes
- Blueberry Zucchini Snack Cake with Lemon Buttercream
- Cold Chocolate Snacking Cake
- Cranberry Breakfast Cake!
- Easy Rhubarb Breakfast Cake
- Super Easy Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Carrot Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze
Cranberry Orange Cake
Equipment
- 9×9 square baking pan
- parchment paper (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest of one orange, peeled in strips with a vegetable peeler (just the orange part, none of the bitter white pith)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups cranberries
- 2 Tbsp sparkling sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly spray a 9×9 inch baking pan. I like to line mine with a 2 sheets of parchment paper with long ends, so I can lift it out later for easy slicing.
- First make the orange sugar. Put the sugar and orange zest in a food processor and process until the zest is completely incorporated. The sugar will be pale orange and moist.
- Cream the orange sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. I use my stand mixer, but you can use electric beaters if you like.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla, followed by the baking powder and salt, and keep scraping that bowl.ย
- Lower your mixer speed and blend in 1/2 the flour, just until it's almost all blended, then add the buttermilk, and finally the rest of the flour. Just blend until the flour is incorporated, and then stop.
- Gently fold in the cranberries, making sure to get them evenly distributed.
- Spread the batter (it will be quite thick) evenly into your pan.
- Sprinkle the sparkling sugar over the surface of the cake and then bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until risen, golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter on it. Try not to over bake the cake, and check on the early side, especially if your oven runs hot.
- Let cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan, then, if you used parchment, you can remove the cake to cool completely, or slice while still slightly warm.
- Store the leftover cake in the pan on the counter covered with foil.
I need to make a bigger cake for a brunch I’m going to, can I just double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13 pan? Can’t wait to try it, sounds delicious.
Hi Susan. Can you substitute gluten free 1 to 1 flour for this recipe? It sounds absolutely wonderful.
I haven’t tried Sharon, but I believe others have with my original cranberry cake. It should work fine with a good 1 to 1 gf baking mix.
Hi, I have a question, the last part of the recipe says to sprinkle the orange sugar on top but I thought that was incorporated into the mix, Iโm confused. Thanks, Robin
Hi Robin ~ it’s sparkling sugar that gets sprinkled on top, that’s just a coarse sugar which gives the cake a nice sparkle and crunch. You don’t need to use it if you don’t have it, or you can also just sprinkle regular sugar over the top.
Can you just use a zester for the orange or must you have the longer pieces of peel to start?
You can, but I find that peeling the rind this way gets a LOT more of it off, and thus results in more intense flavor. Processing the zest right into the sugar like this captures all the essential oils and flavor.
It’s lovely,so nice!
I donโt have any buttermilk, is there a Subsitute I could use in place of it? (I have Almond milk not regular milk in my house)
Thanks! I love your recipes!
You can pretty much use any type of milk for this, the recipe is forgiving that way. Almond milk should work fine.
The “original” cranberry breakfast cake is my absolute favorite. I make it for home, to bring to my mom, for the teachers at my school. I bought an ENORMOUS bag of cranberries before Thanksgiving with this recipe in mind. Now you’ve gone and improved it? Can’t wait to try!!!!!
๐ Enjoy!
Do you use the cranberries whole or slice them? When I make cranberry bread I slice each cranberry in half while frozen. Original recipe said to put in food processor but I didn’t want cranberry bits, I wanted the larger pieces. Never tried just putting whole cranberries in.
I use them whole, and love the effect!
Yes to all things cranberry!
Amen ๐
I made the Cranberry Breakfast Cake for Thanksgiving and people were eating it for breakfast with coffee and for dessert with Prosecco. This new recipe sounds even better and I will make it at Christmas. xo
Hi Sue,
Happy belated Thanksgiving!!
Whatโs the baking time like if I make this cake as a regular or a mini loaf?