Cranberry, Almond & Orange Bundt Cake

I wanted to make a festive cake that was also a bit of a showstopper.

For this recipe I decided to pair the tart cranberries with almond cake and orange icing.

I made it in a decorative Bundt cake but you could make it as a loaf cake if you don’t have a Bundt tin. It is also dairy free!!

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To start pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) or gas mark 4 then grease a Bundt tin with cake release spray. I used a Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan, Original Cast Aluminium Bundt Tin 10 cup capacity. Bundt tin available on Amazon

Whisk the sugar, eggs, oil and almond essence until light and fluffy.

Then add the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and orange zest. Carefully fold it in until all the flour is combined.

Finally fold in the frozen cranberries.

Spoon the mixture into the Bundt tin. It will find its own level as the mixture has a nice dropping consistency.

Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Leave to cool completely in the tin then place on a board or plate by placing a board or plate on the top of the tin then inverting.

To make the orange icing sieve the icing sugar and then gradually add some of the orange juice until you have a thick but dropping consistency. If it’s too runny then just add more sieved icing sugar.

Put the icing on top of the cake and let it drip down the cake.

For decoration you could dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with some dried cranberries. I used sugared cranberries and rosemary.

To make the sugared cranberries put the maple syrup and water in a pan and bring to the boil stirring all the time.

Boil for 2 minutes then take off the heat and add the frozen cranberries. Put the pan back on the heat and it bring back up to boiling point. Then turn the heat down and simmer for 1 minute.

With a draining spoon put the cranberries onto a cooling rack and leave for 5-10 minutes until they are cool but tacky.

Roll them into the sugar then leave to dry in the cooling rack. You can do the same with the rosemary or anything you want to use for decoration.

Once they are dry you can add to the cake in any design you want.

Cranberry, Almond & Orange Bundt Cake

Sarah's servings: 10

Sarah's skill: Medium

Baking time: 45-40 minutes

Ingredients:

Cake

225g Caster Sugar

4 Large eggs

240ml Sunflower oil

1 tsp Almond essence

240g Self Raising Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

70g Ground almonds

Zest of a large orange

150g Frozen cranberries

Icing

150g Sieved icing sugar

Juice of a large orange

Sugared Cranberries

4 Tbsp Maple syrup

4 Tbsp Water

20-25 Frozen Cranberries

Sprigs of rosemary

4 Tbsp Granulated sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) or gas mark 4.

2. Grease a Bundt tin with cake release spray. (I used a Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan, Original Cast Aluminium Bundt Tin 10 cup capacity.)

3. Whisk the sugar, eggs, oil and almond essence until light and fluffy.

4. Add flour, baking powder, ground almonds and orange zest then fold it in until all the flour is combined.

5. Finally fold in the cranberries and spoon into the Bundt tin.

6. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

7. Leave to cool completely in the tin then place on a board or plate.

8. Sieve the icing sugar and then gradually add some of the orange juice until you have a thick but dropping consistency. If it’s too runny then just add more sieved icing sugar.

9. Put the icing on top of the cake and let it drip down the cake.

10. For decoration you could dust with icing sugar and sprinkle on some dried cranberries. I used sugared cranberries and rosemary.

How to make the sugared cranberries

• Put the maple syrup and water in a pan and bring to the boil stirring all the time.

• Boil for 2 minutes then take off the heat and add the cranberries. Put the pan back on the heat and bring back to boiling point.

• Turn the heat down and simmer for 1 minute. With a draining spoon put the cranberries onto a cooling rack and leave for 5-10 minutes until they are cool but tacky.

• Roll them into the sugar then leave to dry in the cooling rack.

• You can do the same with the rosemary or anything you want to use for decoration.

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Sarah’s extra slice......

I used a Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan, Original Cast Aluminium Bundt Tin 10 cup capacity.

Make sure you spend the time getting the air into the oil and eggs before adding the flour so you have lovely light and fluffy loaves.

I used frozen cranberries but you could use fresh or dried.

It is worth getting a decent almond essence so the taste is not too artificial.