Cranberry Cake with Vanilla Orange Glaze

For many of you, Thanksgiving dinner was a little smaller and a little quieter this year. It certainly was for us. And given this fact, one would think that I would’ve made less food; but I didn’t, and now I have a refrigerator full of leftovers. 

In my attempt to find creative ways to use these leftovers, I’ve developed this gem of a cake recipe that transforms leftover cranberry sauce into a cake that is absolutely delicious and perfect for a late afternoon snack. The combination of cranberry and orange in this cake is fantastic and perfectly balances out this cake’s richness. Leftovers have never tasted better! 

To start, bring butter and eggs to room temperature.  Preheat your oven to 325 deg F and grease and flour a one pound loaf pan to ensure that your cake doesn’t stick to the pan when baking. Once ready, cream two sticks of softened butter and 1 cup of sugar together with a handheld or standing mixer until light and fluffy.  Next, add four eggs, one at a time, making sure to fully mix each egg into the batter before adding the next egg.  Add one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and one teaspoon of pure orange extract to the batter, along with the zest of two oranges.  Mix to combine.  If you do not have orange extract on hand, double the amount of orange zest or substitute the extract with triple sec liqueur.  

In a separate bowl, sift together 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons baking powder.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Next, dollop ¾ cup of leftover cranberry sauce into the batter and gently swirl it, using large sweeping strokes.  Note!  Do not attempt to make this cake with fresh (uncooked) cranberries. They will release too much liquid into the cake batter, jeopardizing the texture and bake of this cake. Instead, use leftover cranberry sauce, like this one. 

Pour the cake batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

When the cake is cool, but still warm, make the glaze.  To do this, mix 1 cup of powdered sugar, one teaspoon of pure vanilla, one teaspoon of pure orange extract and 2 tablespoons of milk together until smooth.  Drizzle over the top of the cake and garnish with additional orange zest.  Enjoy!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Cranberry Cake with Vanilla Orange Glaze

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp pure orange extract (see discussion above for substitutes)
• zest of two oranges
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¾ cup cranberry sauce

For the glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp pure orange extract (see notes for substitutes)
• 2 tbsp milk
• zest of one orange (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Grease and flour a one pound loaf pan. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or standing mixer, cream softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each egg addition.
• Add vanilla and orange extracts and zest to the batter. Mix to incorporate.
• In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Swirl ½ cup of leftover cranberry sauce into batter in large sweeping motions.
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 325°F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn cake out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
• When cake is cool, but still warm, make the glaze by mixing powdered sugar, vanilla and orange extracts and milk together. Drizzle over the cake and sprinkle with additional orange zest.
• Enjoy!