This Orange Cranberry Pound Cake is everything you’d expect it to be: super moist, rich, and flavorful! The richness comes from the cream cheese and butter mixed into the batter and the orange, vanilla and an easy homemade cranberry sauce adds color and flavor to the whole loaf and every individual slice! You won’t believe how easy it is and how perfect it is for breakfast AND dessert!
PERFECT FOR THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS
Nothing like cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving! A pound cake is not your traditional way of using up leftover cranberry sauce, but it’s my new favorite way! You’ll love how the cranberry sauce looks and tastes is in this rich pound cake!
USE LEFTOVER CRANBERRY SAUCE OR MAKE YOUR OWN
You’ll need about 3/4 cup of cranberry sauce to make this cake. I’ve included an easy cranberry sauce recipe that you can make on the stovetop if you don’t happen to have leftover cranberry sauce!
BAKING WITH CRANBERRIES
I think cranberries are so good, but slightly underused in baking! Whether you use fresh, dried, or frozen cranberries, I love the tart, sweet, fresh flavor they add! For another cranberry cake recipe, you’ll love my Cranberry Almond Ricotta Cake. For some yummy cranberry cookies, definitely make these Cranberry Raisin Pistachio Cookies!
WHERE’D THE IDEA FOR CRANBERRY POUND CAKE COME FROM?
I first made this pound cake base during blueberry season when I made this Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake. What’s not to love about a cake made with a cream cheese/butter batter and homemade blueberry sauce swirled throughout?! The cake is INCREDIBLY moist and just so GOOD.
HOW IS THIS CRANBERRY CAKE DIFFERENT THAN THE BLUEBERRY CAKE?
- Cranberry Sauce: Obviously 🙂 Instead of blueberry sauce, we’re using cranberry sauce.
- Orange Zest: Since there is orange zest and orange juice in the cranberry sauce recipe, I replaced the lemon zest with orange zest in the batter.
- Orange Icing: I didn’t make an icing or topping for the Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe. Since it’s the holidays, I decided to add a simple icing to make this cake just a tad bit sweeter and prettier!
MAKING HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE
Some people think cranberry sauce makes this recipe more complicated. The truth is…the sauce and cake are super easy to make. It takes less than five minutes and swirling it in is super easy!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS CRANBERRY SAUCE?
- Sugar
- Orange juice
- Water
- Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
- Cornstarch: For thickening the sauce.
- A Cinnamon Stick
- Orange Zest: It adds to the hint of orange in the cake and icing.
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY SAUCE
- Bring the water, orange juice and sugar to a boil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer.
- Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cranberries and cornstarch and simmer for 6-8 minutes. Stir constantly until thickened. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the cake batter.
HOW TO MAKE CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE
- Start by buttering and lining your pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Next, cream together the butter, cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. MAKE SURE your cream cheese and butter are softened to ROOM TEMPERAURE (all caps and bold means it’s very important! 🙂 Once it becomes a bit pale in color, you’ll mix in the sugar.
- Add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla and orange zest. Be sure scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time while mixing ingredients. This will help make sure the ingredients are all incorporated.
- Turn the mixer on low (so that you don’t get flour allover you and your kitchen) then slowly add in the dry ingredients.
ASSEMBLING THE CRANBERRY CAKE
- Spoon 1/3 batter into the prepared loaf pan. Spoon and then spread 1/2 of the cranberry sauce (this would be about 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sauce) evenly over top of the batter. Spoon and evenly spread another 1/3 of the batter on top. Spread the remaining cranberry sauce over the batter and cover that layer with the remaining 1/3 of the batter.
- Stick a knife or skewer in the batter almost to the bottom of the pan. Run the knife or skewer through the batter in a swirling motion going from side to side from the top to the bottom of the pan. Rotate the pan 45 degrees and run the knife through the batter side to side from top to bottom one more time. Be careful not to overswirl.
BAKING THE CAKE
- Bake 50-60 minutes until the cake is a toothpick comes out mostly clean inserted in the center of the cake. Remove the cake from the oven and set on a cooling rack to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out and allow it to cool completely on the rack.
TOPPING THE CAKE WITH ORANGE ICING
This cake is delicious with or without icing. Since I have a sweet tooth and since we’re approaching Thanksgiving, I would definitely opt for the icing!
I wanted to keep the icing simple since everyone appreciates a simple recipe around the holidays. Nothing easier than a two (or in this case three) ingredient powdered sugar icing! I also wanted to keep the orange flavor going, so the icing is flavored with both orange juice and zest.
WHAT DO I NEED FOR THE ORANGE ICING?
- Powdered Sugar
- Orange Juice
- Orange Zest
HOW TO MAKE THE ICING?
Easy! Just use a whisk or fork to stir the ingredients together. The recipe calls for 1-2 tablespoons of orange juice. I like to use about 1 1/2 tablespoons but if you want yours a little thinner, go for 2 tablespoons. The best thing to do is to start with 1 tablespoon then add a half a tablespoon more. If you want to thin it out more, add another 1/2 tablespoon.
DECORATING THE CAKE
I prefer using a spoon to just drizzle the icing in a zig zag motion over the cake. To me, this kind of goes with the zig zag stripes of the cranberry sauce inside!
There you have it! This Orange Cranberry Pound Cake is the most delicious way to use up leftover cranberry sauce or the perfect excuse to make more! This cake is rich, tender, and sooo delicious! All you need to decide is if you’ll make this Orange Cranberry Pound Cake for Thanksgiving or after Thanksgiving.
Print
Orange Cranberry Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Cakes and Cupcakes, Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
To celebrate the holidays….Orange Cranberry Pound Cake…it’s pretty, rich, moist, and easier than you’d expect!
Ingredients
FOR THE CRANBERRY SAUCE
- 2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (or more, to taste)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
FOR THE POUND CAKE
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
FOR THE ORANGE ICING
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 –2 tablespoons orange juice, add 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
FOR THE CRANBERRY SAUCE
- Place the water, orange juice and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cranberries and cornstarch and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Stir constantly until thickened. Stir in the orange zest. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the cake batter.
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- With a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes until creamy and light. Add the sugar and beat an additional minute until slightly fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the mixer down to low speed, add the eggs one at a time followed by the orange zest and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Beat until dry ingredients are just incorporated, being careful not to overmix.
- Spoon 1/3 batter into the prepared loaf pan. Spoon and then spread 1/2 of the cranberry sauce evenly over top of the batter. Spoon and evenly spread another 1/3 of the batter on top. Spread the remaining cranberry sauce over the batter and cover that layer with the remaining 1/3 of the batter.
- Stick a knife or skewer in the batter almost to the bottom of the pan. Run the knife or skewer through the batter in a swirling motion going from side to side from the top to the bottom of the pan. Rotate the pan 45 degrees and run the knife through the batter side to side from top to bottom one more time. Be careful not to overswirl.
- Bake 50-60 minutes until the cake is a toothpick comes out mostly clean inserted in the center of the cake. Remove the cake from the oven and set on a cooling rack to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out and allow it to cool completely on the rack.
FOR THE ORANGE ICING
- Add the powdered sugar to a medium sized bowl. Whisk in the orange juice until desired consistency is achieved. Add the orange zest and whisk til combined. Pour or spread the icing over the cake. Enjoy!
Keywords: pound cake, cream cheese, cake, quick bread, cranberry sauce, cranberries, cranberry, thanksgiving
Absolutely beautiful presentation. Love the ingredients.
★★★★★