By Dorie Greenspan
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- 5(1,256)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This tall and tender Bundt cake pulls off the trick of being cozy and zingy at the same time. It gets its soft crumb from yogurt (although you could use sour cream or buttermilk) and its pop from puckery fresh cranberries and a mix of cardamom, coriander and ginger. It’s festive with a cranberry icing and classic with a dusting of powdered sugar. And it’s a cake that can go through the seasons — think about swapping the cranberries for dried fruit in the winter and berries in the summer. It’s great with blueberries.
Featured in: The Best Cakes for the Holidays Are Also the Simplest
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Ingredients
Yield:12 servings
- ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into chunks (plus more for the pan if not using nonstick baker’s spray)
- 2½cups/320 grams all-purpose flour (plus more for the pan if not using nonstick baker’s spray)
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- ¾teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼teaspoons ground cardamom
- ¾teaspoon ground coriander
- ½teaspoon ground ginger
- 1½cups/300 grams granulated sugar
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange or 2 small tangerines
- ⅓cup/80 milliliters neutral oil
- 3large eggs, at room temperature
- 2teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1cup/235 grams plain Greek yogurt, at room temperature and drained of excess liquid, if necessary
- 2cups/200 grams fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 2¼cups/275 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 2tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (maybe a bit more) cranberry or pomegranate juice
For the Cake
For the Icing
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
490 calories; 20 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 73 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 50 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 289 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Center a rack in the oven and heat it to 350 degrees.
Step
2
Prepare the cake: Butter a large (12- to 13-cup) Bundt pan, dust the interior with flour and tap out the excess, or coat the pan with nonstick baker’s spray.
Step
See AlsoSourdough Pancake or Waffle Batter Recipe40 Vintage Baking RecipesAlmond Pulp Recipes (by category)Paul Hollywood's best fluffy scone recipe - Something Sweet Something Savoury3
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda and then whisk in the cardamom, coriander and ginger; set aside.
Step
4
Put the granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl that will work with an electric mixer. Add the zest and, using your fingertips, rub it into the sugar until you catch a whiff of orange. Drop in the butter. Beat the sugar and butter together on medium-high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale, creamy and fluffy. Pour in the oil and beat for a couple of minutes more to blend it in well, turn off the mixer and scrape the bowl and beater(s).
Step
5
One by one, beat in the eggs, beating for a minute after each egg goes in. Beat in the vanilla — the mixture will look like frosting — then blend in the yogurt on low speed. Turn off the mixer, scrape the bowl and beater(s) well and add half the flour mixture. Working on low, mix until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. Turn the mixer off, add the remaining flour mixture and, again, beat until almost blended. It’s fine if you can still see flour here and there. Working by hand with a flexible spatula, fold in the cranberries and any remaining flour. Scrape the batter into the pan and push it gently into the pan's curves, leveling the top as best as you can.
Step
6
Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a tester inserted comes out clean. The cake will be deeply golden brown and pull away from the sides of the pan when prodded. Transfer the pan to a rack, let rest for 5 minutes and then unmold the cake onto the rack. Allow it to come to room temperature before icing.
Step
7
Make the icing: Put the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and sprinkle over the juice. Stir the juice into the sugar. You’re aiming for an icing that flows easily off the side of a spoon. If needed, add more juice by droplets. Either keep the cake on the rack and slip a piece of parchment or a sheet pan under the rack to catch drips, or transfer the cake to a platter. Spoon the icing over the cake, allowing it to run down the sides. Let the icing dry before serving. Covered, the cake will keep at room temperature for at least 4 days. (If you haven't glazed the cake, it can be wrapped well and frozen for up to 2 months; defrost, still wrapped, at room temperature.)
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Cooking Notes
RoLo
I haven't tried this recipe yet, but have often successfully halved Bundt cake recipes by baking in an 8x8" square pan (becomes more like a snack cake). The standard baking advice for halving 3 eggs = 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk (save the white for another use). One more consideration is the leftover cranberries - this full recipe doesn't use up the whole standard bag of fresh (340 g), so halving would leave even more. I'd stick the leftover amount in the freezer.
Lauren
Switched out half the cardamom for an equal amount of cinnamon—this was so good! Recommend adding sugar when flouring the pan to get a really nice crust
Jennifer Skinner
Came out just like the photo and tasted as good as I had hoped. A pretty holiday cake.
MamaCat61
The article that introduced this cake suggested using cinnamon if you don't like cardamom. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/dining/best-simple-holiday-cake-recipes.html
Julie
I made this cake today, swapping cinnamon for cardamom. I have an 8-cup Bundt pan and a 4-cup Bundt pan. I divided the batter between them. I put about 2/3 of the batter in the 8-cup Bundt pan and the remaining third in the smaller pan. They rose and baked beautifully! I monitored at 5 minute increments after the first 15 minutes of baking. The 4-cup pan was done baking at 33 minutes and the larger at 46 minutes.
Ann
I used a whole bag of cranberries & it came out great! Very moist cake - a winner!
Alexandra
No, Bakers Spray is a specific type of nonstick spray that has flour in it. Pam does make a version of it. You can find it in the baking section of a grocery store. I've used regular Pam for baking applications, and it is usually fine in a pinch, but for a bundt cake, which is made in a specialty pan which you can't line with parchment paper, it's a good idea to use baking spray--especially when the cake has sticky elements, such as the cranberries in this recipe.
Izzy
Very fun recipe! Don’t have a Bundt pan, used two tea cake/loaf pans (one 9x5 the other 8x4) and watched them closely for time. It worked great, though I do think you could away with most of the batter in the 9x5 and would get a much loftier cake. The rise was pretty minimal in the oven, though it starts as a very light, fluffy batter. Up the spices if you want to taste them over the tart cranberry. They were strong in the raw batter but mellowed a lot in the bake. Will make again!
NJ baker
Fill the pan no higher than 3/4 of the way up. The batter needs room to rise. Bake the remaining batter in a smaller pan or as cupcakes for much less time.After spraying the Bundt pan with baking spray that includes flour, brush the spray into all the interstices of the pan. And to make sure it doesn't slip down, when using a Bundt pan save this step until just before filling the pan.Many good tips in a video on the Nordic Ware website:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GTTEubSjrE
Nicole
I substituted eggs with flax eggs, yogurt for soy yogurt and plant based butter instead of real butter and it came out amazing. I’ll definitely make this again. And again.
Sam&Romeo
Great recipe! Fresh, light, with just the right level of tart/sharpness. We had a smaller Bundt pan and filled it with the batter about 3/4 up. Baked beautifully and still had some room at the top after rising. We used the rest in a cupcake/muffin pan and baked it along with the cake for the last 20 min (yielded 4).
Evan
Just made this, the texture is phenomenal. I added walnuts and I used some chunky cran from the can because that’s what I had on hand. I wish I’d tripled all the spices, it wasn’t nearly cinnamon-y enough for me. I skipped the frosting because the canned cran had more than enough sweetness. I will definitely make this again.
Susan
If you read the accompanying article, she suggests cinnamon.
bnom
We liked this best two days after baking when the cardamon mellowed a bit. Since we're not serving this to kids, next time I'll brush on rum/sugar/lemon juice glaze while still warm (see apple bourbon cake) as I did not think the powdered sugar glaze added much.
Drew
I divided the recipe in 3, easy to do with the measurements given in grams (thank you NYT!).Put the dough into a loaf tin and it came out perfect.
Andrew
The icing should, at minimum, be halved. 2 1/4 cups is an absolutely insane amount of sugar. 1 cup is plenty if your goal is to decorate the cake, not submerge it. The cake honestly doesn’t need more sweetness, it’s perfectly fine on its own.
Juliana Schiff
Fabulous and delicious cake. It’s very moist. Very easy to make. It was a big hit in my party.
Barbara D.
I made this for my birthday using frozen raspberries. I reduced the sugar somewhat but made a simple syrup with the juice of the orange and brushed that into the cake while it was still warm. Delicious cake with a softer crumb than most bundt cakes, probably because of the oil. Tip: I always use butter and fine bread crumbs to prepare the bundt pans. Have never gad a problem with turning out the cake.
Adele
1. After trying this cake with Blueberries, we found that the flavors worked better with cranberries. Worth buying extra in the fall and keeping them in the freezer for Christmas time cakes. 2. Cake does not need so much icing. Try a smaller amount, maybe 2/3?
murielp
This is a great recipe. The cake was moist and delicate. It is interesting that both butter and oil are used. I did not have cranberries but used frozen,slightly chopped raspberries and they seemed to be the perfect combination with the orange flavored cake. The cake also kept its soft crumb for a few days (as long as the cake lasted!).
Ele
Made this for a NYE party and it was beautiful and delicious. A friend doesn't enjoy cilantro- I subbed in cinnamon and it went well with the cardamom and ginger. Decorated with candied clementine slices and blueberries, and some silver ball icing toppers. Looked so festive! Moist with a nice tartness from the cranberries (I used frozen).
skullgirl8
Didn’t have coriander so I replaced it with cinnamon. I used nonfat yogurt because that is what I had. It was delicious! Great texture and flavor. I used baking spray and had no trouble getting it out of the pan.
NHMama
Awesome! I just made this with gluten free flour (KA Measure for Measure) and a touch of almond flour. Used frozen cherries and added some dried cranberries to balance out the cherries' sweetness. Used buttermilk and sour cream combo. For the icing, I had a moment of genius and used Luxardo cherry juice for color as well as some orange and dark cherry extracts for flavor. This is a delicious cake. Spouse, teen, and I all really enjoyed it. Can't tell it's gluten free. A winner!
Ted S
Had to make a few changes based on my pantry and fridge - buttermilk instead of yogurt, lime zest instead of orange(!), and an improvised glaze . . . But the cake turned out pretty perfect - moist and tasty. I doubled the spices and would do that again, as they're present but still not very strong.
adavies108
just made this - wow it is fantastic. I forgot the vanilla and it didn't seem to matter. pulsed the cranberries a couple of times in the food processor as suggested by another commenter. Also made the icing w orange juice instead of cranberry/pomegranate. I am going to have to give pieces of this away - otherwise I will eat the whole thing myself. dorie greenspan for the win!
Bianca
Used 1:1 gluten free flour and it turned out beautiful, didn't even have to adjust the baking time. The icing did not turn out though. I ended up juicing the leftover cranberries to make the 2 tbsps or so needed, and the mixture tasted like plastic. Maybe should've used store-bought instead. Ended up mixing some homemade cranberry sauce and the flavor is great, but the consistency is a bit runny.
Katherine T
Made this 2 days ahead of time for Christmas morning. Wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature. Unwrapped and iced it Christmas morning. It was a big hit! Came out just like photo and super moist. I took the trouble to buy and use the baking spray and recommend doing so.
lee
Cook for only 50 minutes. Cooked for 55. It becomes a little dry. 50 minutes it releases from the Bundt pan perfectly and it’s still moist.
Hevandriel
Made this recipe exactly as written, and every single person who tried it was blown away with how beautiful AND staggeringly delicious it was. Dorie Greenspan, I love you.
sluke
Delish! Added half blueberries because I ran out of cranberries and also iced with oj as the base. Very tasty and makes a great snack cake.
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