Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake

I baked this Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake as dessert when a couple of  good friends came over to dinner.  In full disclosure, not only did they come to dinner, they brought dinner.  I needed a special dessert to stand up to Janell and Jerry's wonderful lasagna, which we've had before and knew would be delicious treat.   However, did I get a photo of it? No. Did I forget to try to wheedle her recipe out of her? Yes.  Another time.

But I digress. I was talking about Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake.  Wanted something citrus to offset the richness of the pasta but nice and sweet as an ending note to the meal. This works quite well.  The orange and cranberries are tart in a sweet velvety, almost pound cake-like texture.  Perfect with a glass of milk to catch up with old friends over.

The cake is a simple straightforward two bowl method, well, two bowls and a cutting board when you count the fruit. Preparation is creaming the wet ingredients, followed by adding the dry ingredients, and stirring in the cranberries.   The most time consuming part is the zesting the oranges and chopping the cranberries up a bit.  The cranberries are then tossed with a little flour to help keep them suspended in the batter, instead of racing to the bottom. The only "odd" addition is a bit of corn starch to help lighten up the batter a bit and create a finer crumb.

I knew I'd have cake left and as it happened I had a Relief Society (church women's auxiliary) function I wanted to go to the next day and this was to be my recipe share for the activity but it didn't work out. Woke up with a nasty cough. This winter seems to be dragging on more than all the others.  Is it just me?  But I'm sure this little treat will freeze well so it's packed up in the freezer in layers of waxed paper and freezer bags so that we can enjoy it in sections over the coming weeks.

Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
Recipe by Glenna Muse

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups (granulated) Sugar
½ cup (1 stick) Butter, softened
3 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Orange flavoring (optional) 
2 Oranges (zest and juice)
12 oz Cranberries, fresh or frozen(or can substitute 1 cup dried cranberries)
2 cups + 2Tbsp All purpose flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
1/4 cup Corn Starch
¼ tsp Salt
Cooking spray + Flour for bundt pan

(When finished, can leave plain or drizzle with a light glaze by whisking together 1 cup powdered sugar with a few teaspoons of water or dust with 2-3 Tablespoons of powdered sugar. )

Directions:

1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Prepare oranges by zesting and juicing. Set aside. Rough chop cranberries so that some will be whole and some will be halves. Toss with 2 Tbsp flour. Set aside.
3) In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4) In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar, butter, and eggs until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and orange flavorings and the orange juice and zest. Beat until combined and fluffy.
5) Add in dry ingredient mixture, half at a time, and beat until batter is smooth.
6) Stir in cranberries. Spoon into prepared bundt pan until batter is even around pan.
7) Bake for approx 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then flip onto cake platter. Dust with powdered sugar to serve.