Cranberry & Orange Bundt Cake

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,

But the fire is so delightful,

And since we've no place to go,

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Yesterday was a truly flawless day. Everything was festive and everyone was happy. My school friends have come home from universities here, there and everywhere, for  the Christmas holidays and my culinary chum and I welcomed them with the smell of mulled wine and ginger biscuits at a festive dinner party, against the winter backdrop of frosted trees and dusted rooftops.

In the tizzy that was the kitchen at peak serving time last night, I did not have an opportunity to take photos of the main course! I will still tell you about it though, because  it was yummy and we were pleased. To satisfy the majority of guests, we served sticky roast chicken with red onions, plums and apples. It was sticky, it was sweet, it was fruity, it was juicy, the chicken was slightly crisp. Hurrah! Tomato, mozzarella and basil tart was the vegetarian option, which was equally successful.

But, hence the title of this post, I am really here to tell you about the puddings. Yeah. It was fierce stuff.

Cranberry and orange Bundt cake and an apricot and raspberry sherry trifle.

I christened my much anticipated Bundt tin. It looked and smelled and tasted like Christmas.

Cranberry & Orange Bundt Cake (serves 10-12)


6oz fresh cranberries

90ml water

4oz granulated sugar

a couple drops almond extract

60ml freshly squeezed orange juice

10oz plain flour

10oz wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
240ml sunflower/vegetable oil
4oz light brown sugar
4oz caster sugar
3 eggs
145ml natural yoghurt
grated zest of 1 orange
8oz icing sugar, sifted
enough lemon and orange juice to make a fairly thick icing to dribble down the sides of the cake


Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Grease a Bundt tin.
To make the mixture for the cranberry 'tunnel', put the granulated sugar in a pan with the water, fruit juice and almond extract. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the cranberries and continue to simmer until they burst and the sauce becomes thick, squashy and syrupy. Leave to cool.
Sift the flour, raising agents, salt and spices into a large bowl. Make a well.
Lightly whisk the eggs, oil, sugars and orange zest together and gently fold it into the dry mixture (try to separate any large clumps of brown sugar before stirring it in or you could get sporadic lumps of it throughout your cake, like I did...!)
Fold in the natural yoghurt.
Pour half of the batter into the cake tin. Then, carefully spoon over the cranberry sauce into the middle of the layer of batter - try your best to keep it in the middle, to avoid it oozing out of the sides of the cake, although when I added the second layer of batter it all spread out anyway, but the 'tunnel' effect was still decipherable!
Then add the rest of the batter on top and gently smooth it out.
Bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour, inserting a skewer into the middle to check if it is ready.
Leave in the tin for about 15 minutes, before turning out and letting it cool. If it looks a little dry, brush over a glaze made by reducing down some orange and lemon juice, a little water, and granulated sugar to make a syrup (do this while the cake is still warm).
To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with enough orange and lemon juice (you choose the ratio depending upon your personal taste) to make a fairly thick icing. It should be thick enough to stay put on top of the cake i.e. not thin and transparent like a drizzle cake icing, but loose enough to dribble down the sides without too much effort.
Decorate as you wish, or leave it plain. I coated some fresh cranberries in lemon juice and then tossed them in granulated sugar to create a frosted effect and dotted them over the top. So festive!