Cranberry Orange Pound Cake from a Mix
This festive cranberry orange pound cake has a perfectly tender texture, with plenty of fresh cranberries throughout and an orange glaze on top. Thanks to a doctored-up cake mix, it's an easy holiday dessert that's both impressive and delicious.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (freshly grated)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
- 4 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
- 13.25 ounce French vanilla cake mix
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole cranberries (fresh or frozen)
For the Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional, for sprinkling over the glaze)
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F and spray a 12-cup bundt pan well with baking spray, such as Baker's Joy (alternatively, you can grease and flour the pan). Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl if using a handheld electric mixer), combine sugar and orange zest. Using your fingers, rub the zest into the sugar until the mixture is fragrant and pale yellow.
- Add butter and cream cheese to the bowl. With the mixer on medium-high speed, beat together until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- Add the almond and orange extracts and mix to incorporate.
- Add cake mix and flour to the mixing bowl, then mix on low speed just until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed. The batter will be thick.
- Add the cranberries and fold them into the batter gently.
- Spread the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake in preheated oven for about 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove cake from oven and let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then run a knife along the edge of the cake to ensure it's loosened from the pan. Invert the pan onto a serving plate and allow the cake to cool completely.
For the Glaze:
- Once the cake is cooled, prepared the glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of orange juice. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more juice. You want it to be thin enough to spoon over the cake, but thick enough that it doesn't all drip off the cake.
- If desired, sprinkle additional orange zest over the icing, then let the icing set for about 15 minutes. Then slice and enjoy!
Notes
- You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. If using frozen, do not thaw them first.
- The glaze is optional; you can simply dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar if preferred.
- If you just want a cranberry pound cake (without the orange flavor), you can omit the orange zest and use vanilla extract instead of orange extract. Then use milk in the glaze instead of orange juice.
- Cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2-3 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 6912kcalCarbohydrates: 1026gProtein: 72gFat: 296gSaturated Fat: 176gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gMonounsaturated Fat: 78gTrans Fat: 9gCholesterol: 1372mgSodium: 3627mgPotassium: 1214mgFiber: 15gSugar: 724gVitamin A: 10006IUVitamin C: 33mgCalcium: 1252mgIron: 19mg
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