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Cranberry Orange Christmas Pound Cake

Use your leftover cranberry sauce to make this brightly flavored, moist Cranberry Orange Christmas Pound Cake. It’s sure to be a hit at your holiday dinner.

Cranberry Orange Christmas Poundcake

 

Did you end up with a lot of  Thanksgiving leftovers hanging out in your fridge?  I know I did and among them was a big container of cranberry sauce.  

My daughter, Kelly, made a batch of homemade sauce and it was delicious, but it made way more than we could possibly eat on Thanksgiving.  

So there it was staring at me in the fridge.  We had no problem eating up all of the leftover turkey, potatoes and stuffing, but the cranberry sauce just wasn’t getting eaten up.

Cranberry Orange Christmas Poundcake

What to do with it?  Make a cranberry orange Christmas pound cake, of course.  

I realized that if I stirred some of this delicious cranberry sauce into a pound cake batter, along with some fresh orange juice and zest, I would have a wonderfully festive cake that would be perfect for dessert on Christmas Eve.

Trust me when I say this cake is really easy to make.  And believe me, it’s so delicious!  

I also should mention that it freezes beautifully, so you can get ahead of the game with your holiday preparations and make this cake well in advance.  

To add to the deliciousness of this cake, I drizzled an easy cranberry glaze on top.  I would also suggest serving it with additional cranberry sauce and a little dollop of fresh whipped cream.  

Your guests will be swooning over this!

Cranberry Orange Christmas Poundcake

How to make Cranberry Orange Christmas Pound Cake:

  • Start by preparing your pan by greasing and flouring
  • Cream butter and sugar and then add eggs one at a time
  • Beat in vanilla, orange juice and zest
  • Combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl
  • Alternate beating some of the the flour mixture with the milk making sure you end with the flour mixture.
  • Stir in cranberry sauce
  • Pour batter into prepared bundt pan
  • Place pan in a cold oven and set temperature to 350 degrees
  • Bake for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick comes our clean
  • Cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes
  • Gently run a knife around the pan, place a plate over the pan and invert to release the cake from the pan
  • Make the glaze and drizzle over the cake once it’s completely cooled

Cranberry Orange Christmas Poundcake

How to freeze pound cake for later:

  • Cool cake completely.
  • Do not glaze before freezing.
  • Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and then with aluminum foil.
  • Freeze for up to 3 months.
  • When ready to eat, defrost completely and then drizzle with the cranberry glaze.

Cake is sliced and plated with additional cranberry sauce and whipped cream

Here are some more pound cakes to make and enjoy:

Yield: 16

Cranberry Orange Christmas Pound Cake

Cranberry Orange Christmas Pound Cake

Use your leftover cranberry sauce to make this brightly flavored, moist Cranberry Orange Christmas Pound Cake. It's sure to be a hit at your holiday dinner.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • zest and juice of 1 large orange
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup cranberry sauce (not jelly)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tbsp cranberry juice

Instructions

  • Grease and flour a bundt pan.
  • Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, until fluffy.
  • Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.
  • Beat in vanilla, orange juice and zest.
  • Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
  • Alternate beating in flour mixture and milk, a little at a time, starting and ending with the flour.
  • Stir in cranberry sauce.
  • Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.
  • Place pan in a cold oven and set temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 60-70 minutes without opening oven, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Remove from oven and cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Gently run a knife around the pan and remove to a plate to finish cooling.
  • To make the glaze, stir together the powdered sugar and cranberry juice, 1 tbsp at a time, until it reaches a thin consistency.
  • Once the cake is cooled, drizzle the glaze over the top.
  • Notes

    If you want to freeze this for later, cool cake completely.
    Do not glaze before freezing.
    Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and then with aluminum foil.
    Freeze for up to 3 months.
    When ready to eat, defrost completely and then drizzle with the cranberry glaze.

    ENJOY!

     

     

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    Jaime

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    Wonderful cake! Was a wonderful addition to our Christmas dinner.

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