Fresh Cranberry Bundt Cake
This fresh cranberry bundt cake is bursting with delicious pops of tart cranberries and crunchy pecans! Decorate and serve with sugared cranberries for your favourite occasion.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 340 g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt omit if using salted butter
- 227 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 300 g caster sugar
- 2½ tbsp lemon zest or the grated zest of 2 large lemons
- 4 large eggs at room temperature, each weighing 60-63 grams (2 - 2.25 ounces) with shell
- 125 g sour cream at room temperature
- 4 tbsp milk
- 230 g fresh cranberries Note 1 roughly chopped (or use frozen, no need to thaw)
- 125 g pecans roughly chopped
For the sugared cranberries
- 120 g caster sugar plus extra 60 grams (¼ cup) for coating
- 120 g water
- 100 g fresh cranberries do not use frozen
Instructions
Prep
- Oven: Preheat to 175°C (350°F). Set the mode to top and bottom heating with a rack placed in the middle of the oven.
- Bundt pan: Using a pastry brush, grease a 10- or 12-cup bundt pan (recipe shows a 10" bundt pan) generously with softened butter or shortening. Make sure to get the grease into all the nooks and crannies and up the sides of the funnel. Sift or sprinkle flour enough flour to thoroughly coat the grease. Turn the bundt pan over the sink and tap out the excess.
Make the cake
- Combine the dry ingredients: Sift together the plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar until fragrant.
- In another small bowl, stir sour cream and milk until well combined.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and lemon zest mixture at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 – 6 minutes, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the butter off the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Beat in eggs: Beat the eggs, one at a time, at medium speed for 45 seconds until the mixture smoothens before adding the next egg.Note: The mixture will curdle each time you beat in the egg, but do not be alarmed and continue beating until the batter becomes smooth.
- Add dry and wet ingredients: Reduce the mixer setting to low speed. Add the flour mixture in 3 lots alternating with the sour cream and milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Do not over beat, stop once the flour is absorbed and the batter is smooth. Note: In alternating order, it goes like this: the first lot of flour, then half of sour cream and milk, the second lot of flour, then the remaining sour cream and milk, and lastly, the third lot of flour. The batter will be thick - it won't be pourable but will easily fall off the spatula when scooped.
- Fold in cranberries and nuts: Tip in the cranberries and chopped pecans. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold into the batter. This is a thick and heavy batter, so be sure to scoop the batter off the bottom of the bowl a couple of times, to distribute the fruit and nuts evenly.
- Fill the bundt pan: Spoon the batter into the greased bundt pan. Level the batter and smooth the surface with a spatula.
- Bake: Bake in the centre of the oven for 45 – 50 minutes, or until the cake tests done. To check, insert a metal skewer or cake tester into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. If it comes out sticky or covered in batter, add 5 – 7 minutes to the baking time.Note: If the cake browns too quickly before it is done, tent the top with a sheet of aluminium foil. Once done, remove the pan from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. To remove from the pan, carefully insert an offset spatula in between the cake and the pan and gently nudge the sides of the cake away from the sides of the pan and the funnel. Invert the cake onto a wire rack to release it.
- Once out of the oven, let the cake sit in the pan for 15 minutes. To release, use an offset spatula to gently nudge the cake away from the sides of the pan and the funnel. Place a wire rack over the pan. Holding the bundt pan and rack firmly together with both hands, flip over swiftly in one go. Gently lift up the bundt pan – slowly - to release the cake. Let the cake cool on the wire rack.Note: If the cake is still sticking a bit in certain spots, wiggle the pan gently. If this doesn’t free the cake, flip back the pan. Use a small knife or offset spatula to scrape down the sides that are still sticking. Then place the wire rack over the bundt pan as before, and flip over to release the cake.
Make the sugared cranberries
- In a saucepan, stir or whisk sugar and water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Once the syrup starts to barely simmer around the edges, remove from the heat.
- Stir in the cranberries and move them around to evenly coat in the syrup. Let steep for 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cranberries (reserve the sugar syrup Note 2) to a wire rack, spacing them apart.
- Dry them out for an hour at room temperature. Roll the cranberries, a few at a time, in the extra sugar until fully coated all around. Set onto a sheet of parchment paper to continue drying out. Note 3Note: The cranberries will be a bit sticky at first, but become much less so once coated in sugar.
- Set the cooled cake on a serving plate and garnish with sugared cranberries as desired.
Notes
#1. Cranberries. You can add the cranberries whole, but I personally recommend roughly chopping the larger pieces and leaving the smaller ones that are about the size of peas, whole. There’s no need to coat in flour as the batter is thick enough to hold them without sinking, but you can toss the cranberries in 1 tbsp of flour if desired.
#2. Reserve sugar syrup - makes a great addition to your favourite beverages, cocktails, chilled teas and coffees, etc. Store in a glass jar with an air-tight seal and keep chilled in the refrigerator for up to a month.
#3. Sugared cranberries. Once coated, sugared cranberries should keep well up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container or sealed glass jar in the refrigerator. If the cranberries start to get mushy, re-roll in sugar to re-coat and consume immediately.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 464kcal, Carbohydrates: 52g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 102mg, Sodium: 246mg, Potassium: 140mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 27g, Vitamin A: 646IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 85mg, Iron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a review in the section below, and tag @foodelicacy on Instagram and hashtag it #foodelicacy so I can see!
