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cranberry orange cream cheese pound cake
I know this recipe is a little more suited to about two weeks ago, but I just could not get myself to bake this holiday season. What was that all about? I’ve had butter sitting on my counter for weeks so I could make it into something that required it to be at room temperature, and I just haven’t done anything.
Will someone please tell me now why I haven’t dropped ten pounds for demonstrating such restraint?
This is the same poundcake I showed you about four years ago, only this time I added chopped cranberries and orange zest. You can add it to your list of treats to make next December, or you can just make it as one last homage to the passing holiday. And then start your diet . . . tomorrow.
I also learned a little trick!! Every time I make this cake at high altitude, it always sinks. But a couple weeks ago, I thought I’d change the kind of flour I used, just to see if there would be a difference. I tried making it with bread flour, thinking the extra gluten would help give the cake the structure it was lacking, and guess what! It worked!!
So tell me, how is everyone’s New Year going? Mine is going well. I think 2013 will be the year for us. I just know it! What will you all be doing?
cranberry orange cream cheese pound cake
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
zest of 2 oranges
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (use bread flour or Better for Bread flour if at high altitude)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour two medium size loaf pans, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar. When mixer is light in color and fluffy, add in zest. With mixer on low, add in eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in cranberries. Divide batter evenly between the loaf pans. Place on a baking sheet, and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven. Place cakes on a wire rack to cool. After about 5 minutes, lay cakes on their sides, and allow to cool for another 5 minutes. Flip cakes onto their other sides and cool for another 5 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, and let cool on the wire rack. While still warm, drizzle with orange glaze (recipe follows). Serve warm or at room temperature.
orange glaze
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Add more juice or sugar to achieve desired consistency.
27 Responses to “cranberry orange cream cheese pound cake”
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Beautiful photo! So much so that I whipped this up today and am sad to say that it does not look as pretty as yours. They had a bit of sinking in the middle. I followed the recipe to a tee, using all purpose flour as I we don’t live in a high altitude (live in NC). Suggestions?
Beautiful photo! So much so that I whipped up this recipe today. Sad to say that mine did not turn out as pretty as yours. I had a little bit of sinking in the middle, not the pretty evenly rounded top as yours. I followed the recipe to a tee using all purpose flour as we do not live in a high altitude place (we live in NC). Suggestions? Thanks!
Btw, approximately what size baking pans did you use?
Sorry for the double post above!
Baked this tonight and it is so good; I will definitely be making this again. I cut the recipe in half and probably a good thing because I can’t quit eating it. Thanks for the wonderful recipe
Oh, I love pound cake. This looks amazing!
Thank you so much, Judy!!
Laura—I’m thrilled that you tried out the pound cake! You know, this is just one of those touchy recipes, I guess. I know my dad, who makes this recipe at sea level all the time, has the occasional issue with a fallen middle. If you would like to try it again, I would suggest using a bread flour, or a smaller loaf pan. The pans I used were about 8 or 9 inches by about 4 or 5 inches. Thank you for your question, and I hope it works for you next time!
How do you think this would work in a bundt pan?
Ooh, yes, Abigail. That is a great idea. I think it would work just fine.
Yummy! I will definitely be trying this tomorrow! thanks for sharing!
Oh, Jaime! This is just the recipe I have been
looking for to use up my “frozen cranberries” before they wrinkle up in the freezer. I think I will try the bundt pan also.
My mouth is watering just thinking about this luscious cake.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
Regards,
Annette (Emily’s mom)
Thank you for this delicious recipe! I made this to give as a gift and enjoy one myself. I hope you don’t mind, I re-posted it on my blog and linked back to your site. Love your blog!
Thank you,
Sarah
http://sohldesign.blogspot.com/2013/01/cranberry-orange-pound-cake.html
I love cranberry orange recipes. One of my favorite is cranberry orange muffins which is why this recipe caught my eye. I used this recipe in a bunt pan… the only change was that I used dried cranberries reconstituted in orange juice instead of frozen. Came out great; everyone at work loved it. Thanks!
Thanks for trying out the recipe and for letting us in on the way you swapped things out, Mandi! It sounds like it came out really well!!
Hi Jaime, I made this recipe today subbing fresh blueberries for the cranberries. I tossed the berries in a bit of the flour mixture so they would not sink to the bottom and baked in a bundt pan. It was met with rave reviews. Thanks so much!
Hi Jamie- I just made this recipe on Friday and we gobbled it up. I love the tanginess of the cranberries and the sweetness of the glaze. The best part was that there were two loaves. Thank you so much for sharing. I love your blog!
Ooh, that sounds delicious, Patrice!! Thank you for letting us know!!
Thank you, Jocelyn. Two loaves does make it nice, doesn’t it?? One to keep and one to give away. Or just two to keep!!
It looks absolutely perfect!!
Thank you, Marta!!
Hi… may I know what is the weight in gram of the butter required? my country sells butter in 250 gm/stick?
HueyBing!! Thank you so much for asking!! Our butter in the US is usually sold in 4-ounce (8 tablespoons) sticks. Each one of those is about 112 grams. So your 250g stick is equal to 2 of our sticks, or a cup of butter.
Since your delicious cranberry orange recipe worked so well, I decided to use tweak your recipe to whip up a cinnamon raisin bunt cake… worked like a charm. Thanks again.
Whoa, Mandi, that sounds good. What did you do???
Same recipe (minus the orange) added 1 tbsp of cinnamon to the flour mixture… and mixed in 1 cup of raisins. I also topped it with a maple glaze (3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp maple syrup). Your recipe is such a great base to play around with.
I also left out the cranberries.
Sounds delicious, Mandi, thank you!!