Cranberry Orange Spice Cake
This cake was adapted from a recipe I found on the This Delicious House website. Since I had extra cranberries left over from Thanksgiving, I needed a way to use more berries than the recipe suggests. So, I made a cranberry orange spice jelly which I added between the cake layers along with the cream cheese frosting. I also added more spice to the cake. Spiced cakes are my absolute favorite.
Pairing tart cranberries with the sweet zest of oranges and spices reminiscent of Christmas, this delicious cake is a perfect dessert for any holiday dinner or party! However, I want to stress the importance of mixing the dry ingredients separate from the wet ingredients then combining them. As a trained eye might detect, the air has been knocked out of my cake because I over-mixed. I made the mistake of adding all the ingredients at once. In the words of Homer Simpson: "DOH!" But the taste wasn't affected. This cake was delicious and approved by my husband, who is a more finicky than me.
One word of caution: if you've never cooked fresh cranberries before, they do pop and might cause hot splatters and stains.
Equipment
Two 9-inch cake pans
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour (260 grams)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon clove
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (whole or 2%)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from one large orange)
1 tablespoon orange zest (from one large orange)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 very full cup whole cranberries from a 12 oz. bag (tossed in a teaspoon of flour)
Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 8 ounce package cream cheese (room temperature)
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
Cranberry Orange Spice Jelly
1 3/4 very full cup of berries
1-2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice with pulp
zest one half of medium orange which equals around a teaspoon of zest
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon pectin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch each of ginger, clove, nutmeg
Sugared Cranberries
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup water
1-2 to 3/4 cup whole cranberries (the rest of the bag)
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line bottom of pans with parchment; set aside.
Cake
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl or stand up mixer, mix together the butter and sugar for two minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, milk, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla. Mix to combine. Pour in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix again.
Toss the cranberries with one teaspoon of flour then fold into the cake batter.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans, using a kitchen scale if possible. Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire cooling rack until completely cool. Prepare the frosting and sugared cranberries while the cakes cool.
Frosting
In a large bowl cream together the butter and cream cheese using a handheld mixer on medium speed for two minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, orange juice, and zest, and continue mixing on low speed until combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl and mix again.
Cranberry-orange jelly
In a small saucepan combine berries, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, orange juice, and orange zest on medium heat until berries begin to pop and the mixture begins to boil. Stir until the sugar is completely melted. (Watch those popping berries!) Add the pectin and reduce heat to simmer. Continue to stir until all the berries are popped and the mixture is thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
Sugared cranberry garnish
In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup of sugar and water. Bring to a low simmer just until sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and stir in the cranberries. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cranberries to a wire rack. In a small bowl combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and orange zest. Working in small batches, toss the cranberries in the sugar. Shake off excess sugar and set aside.
To frost, place one layer of the cooled cake on pedestal or cake plate and spread on about a cup of frosting. Add the cranberry orange spice jelly and spread evenly. Place on the top layer of the cake and spread the remaining frosting all over the cake. Decorate with sugared cranberries.
