Cranberry Coffee Cake with Orange and Cardamom
Posted: 11/04/2016
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Cranberry coffee cake with orange and cardamom will fill your home with scents of the holidays. It’s perfect for any day but I picture this making a Christmas brunch appearance.
Can you imagine anything much better than the scents of cranberries, orange and cardamom wafting through your house around the holidays?
I grew up eating a blueberry coffee cake similar to this cake. Both my mom and my grandma liked to make it (and perhaps Betty Crocker too?). I love this recipe base because it’s perfectly sweet, perfectly moist and so simple to make. And of course, because it brings me back to Sunday afternoons at my grandma’s house. So it makes sense that I love to create new takes on it — the peach spice coffee cake is still one of my faves.
In an effort to not eat all this cranberry coffee cake myself, and to get to know our new neighbors, I sent out a group text after I baked this cake inviting our neighbors to swing by for a piece of coffee cake. An impromptu hour getting to know new friends on a sunny Sunday afternoon transpired quickly after sending out the text.
Cake brings people together.
Although cranberries are plentiful and easy to find in stores around Thanksgiving and Christmas, you may not be able to find them other times of the year. If you love cranberries as much as I do, buying frozen cranberries is a great way to enjoy them all year round. I almost always have a bag in my freezer.
In fact, fresh cranberries are super easy to freeze. When they’re plentiful, buy extra and put them into a freezer bag, label, and put into the freezer. They’ll keep for 10-12 months. Make sure you wash them before you use them or wash them before you freeze them. Either way is fine.
You can use frozen cranberries right from the freezer, no need to thaw them first. I love the addition of tart cranberries to cranberry pecan pie. The combination of sweet and tart is irresistible!
Soon I’ll be making these holiday recipes using cranberries: baked brie with cranberries and bourbon pecans, cranberry salsa, Brussels sprouts with cranberries and walnuts, and orange cranberry sauce with cardamom. Have you ever tried sugared/candied cranberries? So cool!
Craving more cakes? Try:
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
servings
Cranberry coffee cake with orange and cardamom will fill your home with scents of the holidays. It’s perfect for any day but I picture this making a Christmas brunch appearance.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 cups cranberries, frozen or fresh
- 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to mix together softened butter, orange juice, milk and egg. On top of wet ingredients, add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, orange zest, and cardamom. Beat on low for 20-30 seconds until combined and then increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Pour half of batter into prepared pan – spread to evenly cover bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup of Wyman’s of Maine frozen cranberries. Spread remaining batter over cranberries and then sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of cranberries. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
- Let cool slightly before cutting and serving. May be served warm, room temperature, or cold.
- Store covered for 2-3 days.
Notes
- If you don’t have turbinado sugar, you can leave it off or substitute with regular granulated sugar. I love the crispy crunch sugar adds to the top of this cake.
- It may look like there isn't enough batter but don’t worry – the baking powder will work its magic while this bakes and it will end up perfect!
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1g, Calories: 177kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 24mg, Sodium: 179mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 17g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Jacquie says
This came out delicious! I also made it in the middle of prepping several meals, so I just threw all the ingredients in the food processor and then poured into the greased pan. The cranberries aren’t whole so they can’t give the same bright pop, but it’s wonderful all the same!
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked it!
jennifer secreto says
Do you think this would work with a streusel topping?
Rachel Gurk says
I think that would be delicious!
PonyCarGirl says
I made this delicious coffee cake but quickly noticed that there was not enough batter to fill a 9×13 baking dish. So I baked it in an 8×8 dish which was the better size. The sticky batter was a bit difficult to spread. I substituted the frozen cranberries with my homemade cranberry sauce and it worked wonderfully. I omitted the sprinkled sugar but drizzled the cake after baking with a thin icing made from powdered sugar and orange juice. It only required 25 minutes to bake in the smaller dish. Fantastic flavours and hubby-approved. I will definitely make this coffee cake again.
Rachel Gurk says
The batter puffs up a lot when it bakes – I agree, as batter, it never seems like there is going to be enough, but surprisingly there always is! I’m glad to hear that it worked well in a 8×8 dish too, though. I’m glad you liked it!
Kadi says
I ended up using an 8×8 pan because the recipe seemed to be small
Rachel Gurk says
Was it okay or did it overflow? This one puffs up a lot as it bakes.
Ann says
Can you use fresh cranberries instead of frozen?
Rachel Gurk says
Yes, absolutely!
Tracey says
I made it the bundt pan and it turned out perfectly. I sprayed my pan and then dusted the turbino sugar in the pan. Mixed the cranberries in the batter to keep them evenly distributed and baked it for 45 minutes. Wonderful recipe and the outside has that nice crunch from the sugar and inside is very light and airy. Thanks for the great recipe.
Rachel Gurk says
Awesome! Thanks for reporting back! So happy you liked it.
Tracey says
Do you think this could be cooked in a bundt pan? I love coffee cakes in that shape. LOL Is the batter fairly thick like most coffee cakes as I think if it was then I could just adjust the time in the oven and still have it turn out.
Rachel Gurk says
The batter is thick but the cake itself is really light and airy – I’m afraid it might not transfer well out of a bundt since it’s fairly fragile. If you do end up trying it, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Sabrina says
this looks absolutely wonderful, love all of these flavors and cardamom too! thank you for sharing this!
Rachel Gurk says
Thank you!