Cranberry orange cake

Photo: Sugar Spun Run

A tall, tender orange layer cake with a cooked cranberry filling between the layers and an orange cream cheese frosting. It's the showpiece for the dessert table.

From Sam Merritt at Sugar Spun Run · @sugarspun_sam

Butter for flavor plus oil for moisture, and whipped egg whites for lift, so the layers stay soft for days.

You need

• Cake: 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup neutral oil
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature
• Filling: 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 3 tbsp packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup water, 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• Frosting: 8 oz brick cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup salted butter, softened; 2 tbsp orange zest; 5 cups powdered sugar; 1 tbsp orange juice; 1/2 tsp vanilla

How to make it

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour four 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
2. For the filling, simmer the sugars, orange juice, water and cranberries, stirring, until the berries burst and it's thick and jammy, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.
3. Beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the sugar, oil, zest and vanilla. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Add the dry mix to the butter in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk.
4. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them gently into the batter in two parts.
5. Divide among the pans and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then completely on a rack.
6. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, add the zest, then the powdered sugar a cup at a time, then the orange juice and vanilla.
7. Stack the layers with a ring of frosting around each edge and cranberry filling in the middle, then frost the outside.

Written in our own words from Sam Merritt's recipe, with their quantities. The original: Cranberry orange cake, Sugar Spun Run.

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