This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries. It makes a perfect Christmas breakfast and a coffee cake you can enjoy year round. A classic loaf recipe you need to add in your repertoire.

This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.

Bake this cranberry pound cake once, and I bet you will make it for the rest of your life. I’m not kidding here. This cranberry pound cake recipe is beyond amazing: simple to make, with basic ingredients, and loaded with incredible flavors and sweet cranberries.

This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.

I’m also obsessed with its perfect texture. While most cranberry pound cake tend t be dry and sometimes too crumbly, this one is dense, rich and buttery, with an incredible moist crumb. What else could you wish for? Without further ado, let’s speak about the recipe a little bit more.

Orange Cranberry Pound Cake

The base of this cranberry loaf is a pound cake. This means the recipe calls for equal amount of sugar, eggs, flour and butter. It guarantees a heavy and dense texture with a rich, buttery and moist crumb. And while there are many pound cake recipes out there, this one is the basic one French bake all year long.

So I started with the pound cake base, and twisted the recipe a little bit, adding some orange zest and juice and delicious dried cranberries to bring a touch of acidity. Top it off with a simple glaze, and you’ve got the best orange cranberry pound cake you could ever dream of.

This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.

How to make orange cranberry pound cake?

Before you start, you need to make sure you use the same amount of butter, sugar, eggs and flour in the recipe. To do so, you can use the measurement cups as indicated in the recipe or go with ounces/grams for a more precise recipe.

  1. Rub in the sugar and orange zest to lift up the orange flavors. Zest is what brings the orange flavors in a cake recipe, not the juice (that plays an important role in the moistness of the recipe though).
  2. Whisk together sugar, melted butter, eggs and orange juice.
  3. Add the dry ingredients in two or three addition and mix until combined (do not overmix or your cake will be dense).
  4. Chop the cranberries into small bites, add them to the batter and stir gently with a rubber spatula until evenly spread out.
  5. Now pour into a loaf pan, and bake! For extra flavors, I recommend drizzling with the icing.
This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.

A little tip about the cranberries

Most cranberry pound cake recipes are a little bit dry in texture. This is because the flour helps the dried cranberries to spread out evenly in the batter. I wanted my version rich and buttery, but not dry – you need to be able to enjoy it plain, without having to dip it into coffee to make it enjoyable. To get this perfect soft crumb without having the cranberries sinking in the bottom of the loaf, chop them finely rather than using them whole in the batter. You will notice it does the trick!

Also, note that you need dried cranberries in this recipe. Fresh cranberries could work too, but for best results I really recommend you stick to the dried ones here.

This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.
This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.

Variations around the recipe

If you love this classic orange cranberry pound cake for its rich, moist, and buttery texture, you can use the same base and create some variants around the recipe. Use equal amounts of flour, sugar, eggs and butter, add the baking powder and a pinch of salt, and bake a plain pound cake. You can also add some mini chocolate chips (not the large ones; they would sink in the bottom), pecans or walnuts, or maybe some pistachios, a splash of rum in the batter, or play with spices if you wish (cinnamon, pumpkin spice, etc.).

More cranberries, please!

Delicious loaf recipes for you to try:

This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.
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Orange Cranberry Pound Cake

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This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.
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  • Author: Delphine Fortin
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x
  • Category: Quick bread
  • Cuisine: American

This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries. It makes a perfect Christmas breakfast and a coffee cake you can enjoy year round. A classic recipe you need to add in your repertoire.

Ingredients

Scale

For the cranberry pound cake:

  • 1 ⅔ cups (200g) all-purpose flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup (200g) sugar
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • ¾ cup + 1 Tablespoon (200g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 large eggs
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) orange juice, freshly squeezed
  • ½ cup (125g) dried cranberries, finely chopped*

For the glaze:

  • 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon orange juice, freshly squeezed
  • 2 Tablespoons milk, plus more as needed
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and grease the bottom and the sides of a 9×5-inch (23×13 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.
  2. Sift flour into a bowl and stir in the salt and baking powder.
  3. In a separate bowl, rub the sugar with the orange zest until fragrant. Whisk in the melted butter, then add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Pour the freshly squeezed orange juice and mix until smooth and combined (do not overmix).
  4. Fold in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
  5. Stir in the cranberries (finely chopped*), making sure they are spread all over the batter.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for approx. 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
  7. Prepare the glaze by whisking all the ingredients together (minus the orange zest), adjusting the milk quantity to make a pourable glaze. Place a baking tray under the cooling rack to catch any drips and drizzle glaze slowly over top of loaf, allowing it to drip down the sides a bit. Sprinkle with orange zest all over the glaze. Cool completely, then slice and enjoy.

Notes

* It’s important to chop the dried cranberries finely before using, or they will sink to the bottom of the pound cake while baking.

Back-To-School, Breakfast & Brunch, Cakes, Christmas, Citrus, Fall, Fruit Desserts, Loaves, Snacks, Thanksgiving, Winter

Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Orange Cranberry Pound Cake, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!

This easy orange cranberry pound cake is rich, buttery, subtly flavored with orange and loaded with dried cranberries.