Description
A moist, tender buttermilk cake studded with fresh cranberries and infused with bright orange zest. This easy one-bowl cake has a beautiful golden crumb and sparkly sugar top. Perfect for holiday mornings, weekend brunch, or anytime you want something special but simple.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- Zest of 1 orange (about 1 tablespoon)
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F, rack in the middle. Grease your pan. I use butter, you can use spray.
Dump soft butter, orange zest, and 1 cup sugar in a bowl. Beat it 3-4 minutes until it’s lighter colored and fluffy. You’re beating air in here which stops the cake from being a hockey puck later.
Crack in the egg, pour in vanilla, beat til smooth. Scrape down the sides with your spatula so you get all the butter.
Grab 2 tablespoons from your measured flour and toss the cranberries in it. That’s your insurance policy against berry-sinking. Set aside.
Whisk the rest of the flour with baking powder and salt. That’s it.
Dump in some flour, mix on low. Pour some buttermilk, mix. Back and forth. Start with flour, end with flour. This stops you from overmixing which makes rubber cake. Quit mixing when you stop seeing white flour streaks.
Use your spatula to fold in the cranberries gently. You want them everywhere but you don’t want to beat out all that air you worked to get in there.
Scrape batter into pan. It’s thick – spread it with your spatula. Throw that last tablespoon of sugar on top.
Shove in oven for 35 minutes. Press the top – if it springs back, maybe done. Stick a toothpick in the center. Mostly clean with some crumbs = done. Wet batter = not done. Could be anywhere from 40-50 minutes total depending on your oven. Cold batter from the fridge? Add 5-10 minutes.
Leave it for 15 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- Oven temperature matters: If your cake is browning too quickly on top but isn’t done in the center, tent it loosely with foil for the remaining bake time.
- Frozen cranberries work too: Don’t thaw them first! Toss them frozen with the flour and they’ll work perfectly.
- Test multiple spots: Cranberries can make testing tricky – poke your toothpick in a few different places to make sure the cake is done throughout.
- Even distribution: After spreading batter in the pan, give it a gentle shake on the counter to help it settle evenly.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40-50 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American