Every slice of this super moist, ultra flavorful cranberry orange Bundt cake boasts a buttery brown sugar orange crumb, tart juicy cranberries, and a ribbon of cinnamon-sugar. Drizzle with a simple orange glaze for an impressive cake that’s a welcome addition to any holiday party or brunch.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos and additional success tips.
Step aside Christmas cookies because this Bundt cake is a must-make this—and every!—holiday season.
Today we’re combining tart cranberries, a thick cinnamon swirl, and sweet orange glaze to create a dessert that’s perfect for a celebration! It’s also very well loved:
One reader, Emma, commented: “This cake is amazing… I make a cake every week to take to tennis and this was voted my best cake ever and I’ve been taking a cake since 2008! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Sherrille, commented: “I was a little apprehensive about this cake, as most similar recipes I’ve tried were dry. OMG, this one is moist and perfectly delicious! I made mini-Bundt cakes for gifts and am on my second batch now. All gift recipients raved about the flavor and moistness! ★★★★★”
And another reader, Andi, commented: “I made this a few weeks ago. Absolutely amazing. I plan to make it for breakfast Christmas morning. I mean, why not? Yum! ★★★★★”
Cranberry & Orange Flavor Pairing
Peppermint and mocha. Pumpkin and spice. Ginger and molasses. Mint and chocolate. There’s no doubt this time of year is home to some of the most delicious and irresistible flavor combos. But there’s one duo that’s completely underrated: cranberry and orange.
I love this flavor duo year round, but especially during the holidays (hello, cranberry sauce) when we could all use a little pop of sweet/tart flavor in between chocolatey, spiced, and rich desserts. Don’t get me wrong, this cranberry orange Bundt cake is definitely decadent—and I love the flavor profile this cake adds to a holiday spread. A few other orange-cranberry recipes I love? Orange cranberry bread, cranberry orange icebox cookies, and cranberry orange muffins.
Behind the Recipe
Chai Bundt cake is the starting point for today’s recipe. It’s honestly one of the best cakes I’ve ever made, even if you skip the chai cinnamon swirl inside. It’s super buttery, moist, and dense without being too heavy.
With a quality base recipe like that, the options are endless. (Try my rum cake next!) I knew that’s where I wanted to start when crafting a holiday inspired cake.
Ingredients in Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
Because they’re so large, Bundt cakes have a tendency to dry out. Not this one! We’re using lots of power ingredients to ensure the very best flavor, moisture, and texture. Here’s what you need:
Some ingredients notes before you begin:
- Flour: We use sturdy all-purpose flour as the base because it’s strong enough to hold up to the cranberries and all the liquid ingredients.
- Butter: Make sure you use room-temperature butter that’s still cool to the touch. If it’s too warm, the butter and sugar cannot properly cream. Here’s more on how to cream butter and sugar and its importance in recipes.
- Sugars: Use brown sugar as the primary sweetener, with just a touch of granulated sugar.
- Oranges: Can’t have a cranberry orange cake without the flavor from real oranges. We use both orange zest and juice for added flavor and moisture. I don’t recommend store-bought OJ, because it’s too thick and I found it made the cake too wet.
- Eggs, Sour Cream, + Milk: 5 eggs, sour cream, and milk add moisture. It’s a lot of volume, but remember, this is a big cake!
- Cranberries: Use fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries—I tested the cake with both fresh and frozen. If using frozen, do not thaw. If using fresh cranberries, you can cut some in half or give them a rough chop before adding to the batter; this just gives a little more texture variety, and ensures cranberry flavor in every bite.
Curdled Ingredients: The wet ingredients will look somewhat curdled before you add the dry ingredients—this is due to the ranging temperatures of the ingredients. It’s normal. The butter may be warmer than the eggs, the sour cream may be colder than the butter, etc. It will all come together when the dry ingredients are added.
Cinnamon Swirl Filling
Layer the cinnamon swirl between the cake batter—half of the cake batter on the bottom, half of the cake batter on the top. There’s no need to actually swirl it, the oven will take care of that. The weight of the cake batter rises and falls as it bakes, moving the cinnamon swirl along with it.
Success Tip: When you sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar filling over the bottom layer of cake batter, try to keep it away from the edges of the pan as best you can. If a lot of the cinnamon-sugar layer touches the sides or center of the Bundt pan, the cake is more likely to stick to the pan when you try to invert it.
Easy Orange Icing
I love making icings and glazes with fresh citrus juices, like the topping on these lemon shortbread cookies. A little tang with a little sweet is always a good idea! You’ll notice that the icing is a bit thin, but it will “set” on top of the cake. For an alternative, try the brown butter icing used on my peach Bundt cake or the cream cheese frosting used on my hummingbird Bundt cake.
Before You Bundt
- Bundt Pan: You need a large Bundt pan for this big cake, one that can hold 10–12 cups of batter. I use and recommend this one and this one. Even though they have a nonstick coating, I still always grease the pan generously with nonstick spray, to ensure the heavy cake releases easily when it’s time to invert it onto a platter.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 1 hour, and then invert onto a cooling rack or serving platter/cake stand. Trying to invert the cake too soon or after too long always makes it harder to release; I find that 60 minutes is the sweet spot for this cake.
To really take this cake presentation to the next level of festive, serve it with the sparkly sugared cranberries that I also use to garnish pumpkin pie.
Print
Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Every slice of this super moist, ultra flavorful cranberry orange Bundt cake boasts a buttery brown sugar orange crumb, tart juicy cranberries, and a ribbon of cinnamon-sugar. Drizzle with a simple orange glaze for an impressive cake that’s a welcome addition to any holiday party or brunch.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons fresh orange zest
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh orange juice*
- 1 and 3/4 cups (220g) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw if frozen)*
Filling
- 2/3 cup (135g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Orange Glaze
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3–4 Tablespoons (45-60ml) fresh orange juice*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 10-inch Bundt pan.
- Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and orange zest together until creamed, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. The mixture will look curdled; that’s ok—it will come together when you add the dry ingredients.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, add the milk and fresh orange juice, and beat on medium speed it all until the batter is completely combined. Beat or stir in cranberries. Batter is thick, yet silky.
- Make the filling: In a small bowl, mix the 2/3 cup (135g) brown sugar and cinnamon together.
- Pour half of the cake batter evenly into the prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle the swirl ingredients evenly on top, doing your best to avoid sprinkling near the edges. Keep the cinnamon sugar in the center, so it doesn’t bake/get stuck onto the pan, which makes inverting the cake difficult. Cover evenly with remaining cake batter.
- Bake for 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. This is a large, heavy cake so don’t be alarmed if it takes a little longer in your oven.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for just 1 hour inside the pan. Then, invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a wire rack or serving dish. Allow to cool completely.
- Make the icing: Whisk confectioners’ sugar and 3 Tablespoons of orange juice together. Add 1 extra Tablespoon of juice to thin out as needed. (Alternatively, add an extra Tablespoon or 2 of confectioners’ sugar to thicken, if desired.) Drizzle icing over cake before slicing and serving.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the entire cake ahead of time (before topping with icing). Cover cooled cake and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before icing and serving. Baked cake can be frozen up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature (if desired) before icing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10-inch Bundt Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream: You can use 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Just as moist and delicious!
- Orange Juice: Use fresh orange juice. You’ll need an orange for the zest anyway, so use up that juice in the cake and icing. The cake tastes MUCH better with fresh juice than with store-bought OJ.
- Cranberries: 1 and 3/4 cups of fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries work.
- Optional Garnish: I added some sugared cranberries for garnish.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Maybe the problem was my use of dried cranberries but this cake was the only thing I’ve made from Sally’s Baking Addiction which didn’t earn a 5+ star rating. Too dry to eat and lacking orange flavor except for the glaze. But she has many more excellent cakes to choose from! Thanks Sally and Team!
hi do you think i could use clementines and blueberries? would it be better to use dried cranberries or blueberries? thanks!
Hi T, dried blueberries should work well here.
I can’t find your glazed orange Bundt cake recipe? Is this the same one?
Hi Patty, we recently removed that older recipe from the website, but if you send us an email (sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com) we’d be happy to share a copy with you. Thank you!
Delicious! I made this yesterday even though it’s July and it turned out beautifully! I needed to use up some oranges from Costco. Love the flavor, and it’s a really moist cake. I would definitely make it again.
Wonderful recipe again – been making Sally’s recipes for several years – never fails to please – fyi – made this orange Bundt in a tube pan and was a success
Looks beautiful! Can these be made in mini bundt pans?
Hi Cheryl, yes you can divide this batter between mini Bundt pans. The bake time would depend on the size of the pans, but bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. Enjoy!
I made this cake today, iam from Australia
My god we loved it, the whole family was obsessed
Thank you so much I love your cake recipes seriously love
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try! We’re so glad your family enjoyed it, Hoda.
Could this be cooked in a regular cake tin or is the batter too dense it needs a bunt tin?
Any chance substituting butter for oil would work?
Thanks so much
Hi Jacqui, you could, but it would be a very dense cake. You might have better results with making this lemon blueberry layer cake, but using oranges and cranberries instead of lemons and blueberries. Also, we have a post on cake pan conversions that you may want to bookmark for future reference.
Can I use King Arthur 1:1 gluten free flour in your recipes to make them gluten free? I have a frien that can onlt eat gluten free
Hi Kathy, other bakers have reported success using gluten free flour in some of our recipes, but we have not tested it and you should expect a slightly different result using gluten free flour.
I just made this and the flavor was wonderful but not the texture. It didn’t look cake-like at all, but rather solid. The toothpick when inserted came out with just a few crumbs attached so I thought it was done at 60 minutes. I only varied from the recipe in that I did not do the filling and I substituted yogurt for the sour cream. My cranberries were frozen.I would like to give it another try.
I am going to try this for Easter. Can I substitute 1/4 cup applesauce per egg with this recipe? I’ve been doing that with almost all of my baking lately because a little girl in the family is allergic To eggs.
Hi Marlene, that’s typically a fine substitute for eggs. However, I worry about it for this Bundt cake because there are a lot of eggs in the batter. (5) I haven’t tested it so I can’t be certain, but I would be wary to try it. Here are all of my egg-free baking recipes.
Waste of ingredients .. cake is soooo dry
Hi Kathy, dry cakes can be caused my many factors and we’re happy to help troubleshoot. First, make sure it’s not over-baked and always keep an eye on the cake as it is baking. It may need less time! And second, make sure not to over-measure your flour. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
This cake’s ingredients tell me it will be moist and flavorful. The comments back it up.
My question is can I use buttermilk or even almond milk as a substitute for regular milk?
Hi Linda, you could use almond milk, but the cake may not be as soft. If you use buttermilk, we would replace BOTH the sour cream and milk with buttermilk, so 1 cup total.
Hi, Sally, can I use mini bundt pans to make this cake? Thank you
Hi Alice, yes you can divide this batter between mini Bundt pans. The bake time would depend on the size of the pans, but bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. Enjoy!
I’m on a seemingly endless hunt for an orange cake, preferably a layer cake but a Bundt cake will do. I’ve tried making orange chiffon cake and orange pound cake and other recipes from scratch but the orange flavor is never pronounced enough for me. Is there a way I can turn this cake into just an orange cake? I’d like to use an orange frosting or glaze or even a chocolate glaze which would also be very delicious! Thanks!
Hi Aly, you can leave the cranberries out of this cake, definitely. Other bakers have reported success using oranges in our lemon layer cake as well.
I made this cake for church coffee hour. Although it stuck to the bottom, I’m taking it anyhow. Too many good ingredients to throw away. I turned it right side up and will slather it with icing. It won’t look pretty but I’m sure it will taste great. Next time, I will leave out the brown sugar cinnamon filling. That’s the part that stuck.
I noticed the orange cranberry quick loaf had an option for crushed nuts. Would that work well here as well? Maybe instead of the cinnamon ribbon?
Hi Esti, We’d go with 1 cup chopped nuts. Pecans or walnuts would be wonderful.
Quick question about the glaze-I am making this for a friend to serve at a party and will be taking this to her at least 1 day ahead. I had planned on baking & freezing the cake, but am unsure what to do about the glaze-can I make the glaze ahead & give to her in a separate container to add just before serving or will it “set”? Or just skip it altogether? TIA
Hi Abby, it’s best to add the glaze fresh (after freezing and thawing the cake). You could definitely make the glaze ahead and tell your friend to just give it a whisk before pouring it on the cake. Hope it’s a big hit!
Could I halve this recipe and bake it in an 8×8 pan? It’s too much cake for us!
Hi Lynn, we would halve the recipe and bake it in a 9×5 loaf pan.
It’s tooo dry
Hi Sally, question for you, after I invert the cake on the plate, do I immediately remove the pan while it fully cools, or do I leave the pan on? I’ve had issues with sticking in the past and just want to make sure I’m doing this correctly. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Hi Lisa, after inverting the cake onto the plate, you can take off the pan. Hope this helps!
Wow, this cake is delicious. I wanted to share that I made several substitutions that turned out well. First, I substituted truvia baking brown sugar and truvia baking white sugar, as well as light cream cheese. Additionally since I didn’t have orange juice I used Jameson orange whiskey! I used frozen cranberries and my baking time was still 50 minutes. Even with all the calorie reducing substitutions, the flavor was phenomenal! Thank you for a great recipe!
Big hit with family but I found the cinnamon streusel to be too much. I would make it again and skip the streusel. I really love the tang of cranberries however – others may need the streusel to offset the tartness. I used fresh orange juice and doubled the orange zest. I also added a little bit of orange emulsion extract from King Arthur to boost the orange. Perhaps given all that i found the streusel to not blend that well with the overall flavor palette . But i will definitely make it again, less streusel and maybe some cinnamon in the batter instead. Not good enough for a holiday table …. Yet!
Loved the recipe! I have two questions:)
Can I halve it?
Can I make cupcakes with the same batter?
Hi Annu, you should be able to halve this cake recipe, yes. You can definitely make cupcakes as well. Happy baking!
One again you’ve created an amazing cake! I’ve made so many of your recipes and they never fail to blow me away. This is delicious! I had a 9 inch pan but it worked out. I ended up making 4 muffins too lol i didn’t have enough orange juice for the glaze so i used a spiced cranberry juice i found at trader joes. Delicious! And a pretty pink lol. Thank you for this recipe. It’s another keeper. The favorite in my family and from friends is your carrot cake.
Could you make this cake in 2 or 3 9 inch round pans instead of a bundt pan?
Hi Eva, you could, but it would be a very dense cake. You might have better results with making this lemon blueberry layer cake, but using oranges and cranberries instead of lemons and blueberries. Also, we have a post on cake pan conversions that you may want to bookmark for future reference.
This was a nice cake, but it was not as flavorful as I had expected. For me, it needs more orange flavor. It’s not surprising that it’s moist, as many have commented: it has a staggering 24 TBS. of butter in it!
This was so good! I love the tartness of the cranberries with the sweetness of the oranges. And it was beautiful! I didn’t have a Bundt pan big enough to hold the ingredients so I baked it in two loaf pans and it was fine.
Wow, this Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake looks absolutely divine! The combination of tart cranberries, sweet orange glaze, and the cinnamon swirl is perfect for the holiday season. Thanks for the detailed tips—can’t wait to try this recipe
This recipe was so yummy! I’m hosting a brunch on Sunday so I tested it today for my family ( the guinea pigs ) and they loved it. The sugared cranberries were a lovely addition and tasted yummy too!
I definitely recommend this cake. The recipe is not as complicated as it might seem. For Christmas or New Year’s Eve it would be the best dessert. I made the cake for Christmas and everyone loved it.