This cranberry orange cake is made with soft & moist white cake layers, a tart cranberry jam, a sweet orange curd, and a light mascarpone frosting.
My take on a winter orange dessert had to have a creamy element to it. And since so many of you are very fond of this blood orange cake, I knew I had to make an orange curd. Thus, this cranberry orange cake was born! It features an incredibly soft & moist white cake with a tart homemade cranberry jam, a sweet cara cara orange curd, and a light mascarpone frosting. It's a holiday citrus dream of a cake!
For more holiday cakes, try Gingerbread Bundt Cake, Mini Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
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Why you'll love this cranberry orange cake
- Soft & Moist White Cake: Based on my most popular vanilla cake, this white cake is just as soft & moist!
- Tart Cranberry Jam: This homemade cranberry jam is so easy to make, but of course you can use store-bought if you prefer.
- Sweet Orange Curd: Orange curd is arguably better than lemon curd. It tastes remarkably similar to sherbet, so you could say it's pretty difficult not to eat by the spoonful. If you're a winter citrus fan, you have to try it!
- Light Mascarpone Frosting: Mascarpone frosting is like a stable whipped cream that's light in flavor and balances out the sweetness of the cake so well.
Ingredient Notes
Ingredient quantities are listed in the recipe card below. Here you'll find notes on why I chose certain ingredients, as well as ingredient substitutions.
- Cake Flour: Though it's not essential to make this cake, cake flour achieves the softest crumb!
- Sugar: Both the cake and the buttercream require granulated sugar.
- Leavener: You'll need just baking powder to give this cake the perfect rise & texture.
- Fat: To make this cake super moist while maintaining that classic buttery flavor, this recipe uses an oil-butter combo. You'll also need 3 whole sticks of butter for the buttercream.
- Dairy: For optimum flavor and texture, use full fat greek yogurt and milk.
- Egg: To make this cake white, use two egg whites. Alternatively, you can use one whole egg and add it in with the wet ingredients. You'll also need three egg yolks for the curd.
- Oranges: I used cara cara oranges!
- Cranberries: I used fresh cranberries, but you can absolutely use frozen.
- Mascarpone: Mascarpone is like a very mild-tasting cream cheese. When whipped up with heavy cream it's just like a super stable whipped cream!
- Heavy Cream: Be sure to use cold heavy cream!
Step by Step Instructions
There are several elements to this cake, which can seem daunting, but I assure you if you read the recipe all the way through and prep as much as you can, it'll be a piece of cake!😉
I highly recommend making the cake layers, cranberry jam, and orange the day before. Then, the next day make the frosting and assemble!
STEP 1: Beat the butter into the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
STEP 2: Add the wet ingredients & whip the egg whites. Add the oil, yogurt, milk, and vanilla, and mix until fully combined. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until medium peaks form.
STEP 3: Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter until just combined.
STEP 4: Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
STEP 5: Cool. Turn the cakes out and cool completely before decorating.
STEP 6. Make the cranberry jam. Add the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and salt to a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat for 10-12 minutes stirring often until the cranberries start to break down. Reduce heat to low, and cook for another 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently until it has thickened. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender) and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass jar to cool completely, then chill in the fridge until ready to use.
STEP 7: Make the orange curd. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt until no lumps remain. In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the sugar mixture, then the lemon juice and egg yolks until fully combined, about 1 minute. Use a rubber spatula to constantly stir the mixture for another 2-3 minutes or until large bubbles form in the center. Immediately remove from heat. Strain the lemon curd into a bowl. Press plastic wrap up against the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
STEP 8: Make the mascarpone frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the mascarpone, heavy cream, and sugar. Whisk on low speed until combined and smooth, then turn up to medium-high speed until thick.
Step 9: Assemble the cake. Secure the first layer of cake on the cake stand with a small amount of frosting. Transfer some of the frosting to a piping bag, then pipe a dam around the edge of the cake. Spread a thin layer of cranberry jam in the center.
STEP 10: Assemble the cake. Pipe another layer of frosting around the edge, then spread a thin layer of orange curd in the center.
STEP 11: Assemble the cake. Place the second cake layer on top, and over the whole cake in a thin layer of frosting for the crumb coat. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes, then frost the cake as desired.
STEP 12: Decorate. Decorate the cake with orange slices, cranberries, and rosemary, if desired.
Expert Baking Tips
- Break up the elements over two days. The cake and the fillings all need time to cool down, so I recommend making each of them the day before, then make the frosting & assemble the next day.
- Use cake strips. To ensure the cake layers bake up evenly & flat, use cake strips! They also prevent the outside of the cake from turning brown. As you can see my cake layers do have a brown crust because I did not use cake strips. They're still just as delicious, just not perfectly white like in this small vanilla cake.
- Don't over-mix the frosting! Just like whipped cream, mascarpone frosting reaches medium peaks very quickly and can easily become grainy if over-mixed.
Recipe FAQs
There are five different methods that ultimately contribute to creating a soft, fluffy, and moist white cake:
1. Cake flour
2. A combination of butter and oil
3. A combination of milk and yogurt
4. The reverse creaming method
5. Folding whipped egg whites into the batter
The reverse creaming method is the process of beating room temperature butter into the dry ingredients. The fat coats the flour and inhibits the gluten from developing. With this method, the cake is sure to bake up flat without becoming too golden around the edges or on top. In contrast, the creaming method involves beating the sugar and butter together, which adds a lot of extra air into the batter. This is a great method for other bakes, but not with a white cake. With the reverse creaming method, the cake will bake up with an ultra fine, velvety crumb.Â
Cakes may dome in the middle when they bake because the outside bakes faster than the center, so the center has more time to rise. This is not ideal for layer cakes, because it is a pain to have to trim away the top of the cake. The reverse creaming method helps with baking perfectly flat cake layers. But the best way to ensure your cake layers bake up flat rather than doming is to use cake strips. Soak the cake strips in cold water before wrapping around the outside of the cake pans. This will ensure that the outside of the cake does not bake faster than the center.
Storage Tips
Store this cake in the fridge for 3-5 days or freeze individual slices for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other holiday recipes to try
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Cranberry Orange Cake
Ingredients
For the white cake:
- 180 g 1 ½ cups cake flour
- 168 g ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 76 g 5 ½ tablespoon unsalted butter, room temp
- 65 g â…“ cup neutral oil
- 113 g ½ cup plain whole milk greek yogurt, room temp
- 113 g ½ cup whole milk, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 egg whites
For the cranberry jam:
- 6 oz fresh or frozen cranberries
- 25 g 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Zest of one orange
- ½ tablespoon fresh orange juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the orange curd:
- 100 g ½ cup granulated sugar
- 10 g 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 35 g 2 ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- 100 g ½ cup fresh orange juice
- 3 egg yolks
For the mascarpone frosting:
- 227 g 1 cup mascarpone, cold
- 227 g 1 cup heavy cream, cold
- 100 g ½ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
For the white cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease and line two 6 inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
- Add the oil, yogurt, milk, and vanilla, and mix until fully combined.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until medium peaks form.
- Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool completely before decorating.
For the cranberry jam:
- Add the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and salt to a medium saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat for 10-12 minutes stirring often until the cranberries start to break down.
- Reduce heat to low, and cook for another 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently until it has thickened.
- Remove from heat and use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender) and blend until smooth.
- Pour into a glass jar to cool completely, then chill in the fridge until ready to use.
For the orange curd:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt until no lumps remain.
- In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the butter.
- Whisk in the sugar mixture, then the lemon juice and egg yolks until fully combined, about 1 minute.
- Use a rubber spatula to constantly stir the mixture for another 2-3 minutes or until large bubbles form in the center. Immediately remove from heat.
- Strain the lemon curd into a bowl. Press plastic wrap up against the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
For the mascarpone frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the mascarpone, heavy cream, and sugar.
- Whisk on low speed until combined and smooth, then turn up to medium-high speed until thick.
For assembly:
- Secure the first layer of cake on the cake stand with a small amount of frosting.
- Transfer some of the frosting to a piping bag, then pipe a dam around the edge of the cake. Spread a thin layer of cranberry jam in the center.
- Pipe another layer of frosting around the edge, then spread a thin layer of orange curd in the center.
- Place the second cake layer on top, and over the whole cake in a thin layer of frosting for the crumb coat.
- Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes, then frost the cake as desired.
- Decorate the cake with orange slices, cranberries, and rosemary, if desired.
Notes
- Break up the elements over two days. The cake and the fillings all need time to cool down, so I recommend making each of them the day before, then make the frosting & assemble the next day.Â
- Use cake strips. To ensure the cake layers bake up evenly & flat, use cake strips! They also prevent the outside of the cake from turning brown. As you can see my cake layers do have a brown crust because I did not use cake strips. They're still just as delicious, just not perfectly white like in this small vanilla cake recipe.Â
- Don't over-mix the frosting! Just like whipped cream, mascarpone frosting reaches medium peaks very quickly and can easily become grainy if over-mixed.Â
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it turned out!