Cranberry Orange Olive Oil Cake. What’s better than combining the in season flavors of fresh cranberries and mandarin orange in a moist spice cake? Not much, especially if it comes together easily. I can’t get enough of cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg during the holidays, especially in a cake.
November and December are a time for lots of treats. Somewhere in the middle of it all I still want dessert but I want it on the lighter side. Cranberry Orange Olive Oil Cake is lightly sweet, light as air and has a slightly crunchy edge thanks to the olive oil. If you haven’t tried baking with olive oil, I encourage you to give it a try.
The grocery store has beautiful packages of fresh cranberries for only a few months of the year and that coincides with mandarin season. Perfect………time to get baking. We grow a dwarf mandarin but we love the Cuties and purchase them as long as they are available. When in season you will always find a bowl full of Cuties on our counter. They are sweet with a thin skin, easily peeled and most often seedless.
Cranberry Note. You can use fresh cranberries in this recipe or make use of leftover whole cranberry sauce you might have on hand. I make a roasted cranberry sauce that I keep around during the holidays. It is a great condiment or a bright addition to a cheese board. Anyway, if you have whole cranberry sauce, just stir in 1 cup instead of the fresh cranberries.
The easy secret to the recipe is using a whole mandarin and a blender. All the liquids and sugar are combined in a high speed blender and then a seeded and chopped mandarin is thrown in - skin and all. Like magic you have the mandarin flavor complete with the zest.
I use a bundt pan to get the maximum surface area - more surface, more crunch. The olive oil bakes a nice, almost crunchy edge with a soft and moist inside. Yum, yum and yum.
Finish the cake with a simple citrus glaze made with fresh squeezed mandarin juice. To keep the cake less sweet and more citrusy, I cut the usual glaze amount by half. If you want more glaze, just double the recipe.
Cranberry Orange Olive Oil Cake is perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch. A slice with afternoon tea - the best. To serve as a dessert, layer on some fresh fruit or berries and top with whipped cream.
Cranberry Orange Olive oil Cake
CAKE
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 small mandarin orange - often called a Cutie - seeds removed
1 cup whole fresh cranberries or leftover whole cranberry sauce
PROCESS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch bundt pan with olive oil.
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside.
Cut the whole mandarin into chunks - removing any seeds you find. Leave the peel on. Set aside.
In a high speed blender, blend eggs and sugar at a medium speed until frothy.
Add olive oil and buttermilk to the egg and sugar mixture. Blend until combined.
Add the mandarin chunks to the blender and process until smooth. There may be small chunks of orange in the liquid.
Pour the blender of wet ingredients into the reserved bowl of dry ingredients.
Pour half the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Stir in whole cranberries or leftover whole cranberry sauce into the remaining half of batter. Pour cranberry batter on top of plain batter in the bundt pan.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until tester comes out clean (time will vary depending on pan style and size).
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.
Turn cake out of the pan and let cool to room temperature.
GLAZE
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh squeezed mandarin juice.
PROCESS:
Make glaze by adding mandarin juice to the sifted powdered sugar. Stir vigorously to remove any clumps. Spoon glaze on top cake.
Enjoy!
NOTES:
You can use fresh cranberries in this recipe or make use of leftover whole cranberry sauce you might have on hand. If you have whole cranberry sauce, just stir in 1 cup instead of the fresh cranberries.
The cake can be made in a standard loaf pan as a traditional breakfast bread. Just increase your cooking time until tester comes out clean.
For a light dessert, serve with fresh fruit or berries. Top with whipped cream if you like.