Cranberry Orange Cake

Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time to dive head first into the Holiday season! But it is kind of hard when you still have a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers! There are thousands of recipes out there for the perfect recipe to use up left over mashed potatoes, turkey, and even stuffing. But what about the cranberry sauce? For some reason in my home, that is the one item that never gets completely eaten. That was until yesterday of course, when I stuffed it into a glorious buttery orange cake.

This cake has the perfect balance of winter flavors. The tart cranberries, warm cinnamon (usually in the cranberry sauce), and fresh orange zest make up the perfect slice for a cold evening by the fire. It is also a great cake to take to one of your 15 holiday parties that you will probably be invited to in the next 3 weeks. Seriously, this is a crazy busy time of year!!!!

This cake recipe is my favorite cake recipe of all time. It turns out perfect every time no matter what changes I make to it! It is not overly sweet and has a wonderful butter flavor. I use my favorite Plugrá European Style Butter for its extra creaminess and moisture that it adds to the cake. The frosting is a simple buttercream, again made with favorite butter, and a touch of orange zest.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a beautiful holiday season with friends and family! Enjoy!

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This is the perfect dessert to use up that leftover holiday cranberry sauce!

Author: Jackie

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1 cup Plugrá unsalted butter , softened
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
• 2 whole eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 cups cake flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with a splash of white vinegar)
• Frosting:
• 1 ½ cups Plugrá unsalted butter , at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 3 - 4 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 and ½ cup cranberry sauce

Instructions

1. reheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure all your ingredients are room temperature.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and soda, and mix.
3. In your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend butter, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla at medium speed until pale and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition.
5. Reduce speed to low and add a cup of flour followed by ⅓ of the buttermilk. Repeat this 3 times, until you have incorporated all the flour and buttermilk.
6. Grease two 8in cake pans or 3 6in pans.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan and allow to completely cool on a cooling rack.
8. To make the frosting, beat the butter and orange zest on medium high until pale.
9. Mix in powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla on low until incorporated.
10. Increase mixer speed to medium high and beat for 5 minutes.
11. To assemble the cake, spread ¼ cup of frosting on the first layer of cake.
12. Top the frosting with ½ cup of cranberry sauce, then top with next cake layer. Repeat with all of the layers.
13. Frost the outer part of the cake and top with fresh or sugared cranberries and freshly grated orange zest.