It's time for Thanksgiving dessert! Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. There's really no fuss about anything and it's just all about the food. I love making traditional desserts with apples and pumpkins. This year, however, I'm all about the cranberries.
Cranberries definitely get the short end of the stick when it comes to Thanksgiving ingredients. Like, everyone loves to have fresh cranberry sauce on the table, but does anyone actually eat it? My family has opted out of making traditional cranberry sauce over the years. We stick to the canned stuff and a pineapple cranberry relish.
Cranberry Lemon Bundt Cake
This year I wanted to give the cranberries an upgrade and figured the best way to do that would be to put them in a cake! I wanted to still keep the flavors bright, but make the cranberries the star. To do that, I decided to go with a pretty plain bundt cake. I made a chai cinnamon swirl bundt cake at the beginning of the year and figured something similar would carry the cranberry flavors well. It turned out to be great. This cake is pretty tasty on its own but even better with some mixins.
Next was the flavor combo. I know that cranberries tend to get paired with oranges, but I didn't want to go in that direction. However, citrus seemed like a good call, so I went with lemons. The flavors complement each other and the lemon zest really brightens up the cake.
The Glaze
Now let's talk about the glaze. To finish off the cake, I made a cranberry glaze. To make the glaze, I made a cranberry syrup out of the extra cranberries and some dried craisins. I boiled those down with some water and then strained the juices when it started to thicken. That got added to some powdered sugar to make a simple glaze and the finishing touch to the cake. The cake would also be great with a lemon glaze. All you would have to do is replace the cranberry syrup with lemon juice.
This cranberry lemon bundt cake is great for Thanksgiving or any time of the year. Give the cranberries the attention they deserve this holiday season and make this cake! Check out the recipe below.
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, about 1-2 minutes. Next, add in the sugar and mix until combined and the butter is a pale yellow, about 3-4 minutes. Then add the eggs in one at a time until they are fully combined. Then add in the vanilla.
- Next, add in the lemon zest, juice, and cranberry juice. Make sure to zest the lemon before juicing it, it will be much easier.
- Now it is time to add in the dry ingredients, it might get a little messy so add it in in multiple increments. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is fully incorporated. Then, add in the sour cream.
- With the batter ready, fold in the cranberries using a spatula. Be gentle when folding in the cranberries as you don't want to over mix the batter. Make sure they are distributed evenly.
- The batter might be a little thick and lumpy, but that's okay. Add the batter into the prepared pan and set it in the middle rack of the oven to bake. Let the cake bake for about 45-55 minutes, until it is golden brown on the top.
- While the cake is in the oven make the glaze. Add the cranberries, craisins, and water in a small saucepan and let come to a boil. Lower the heat and let the cranberries thicken until they pop and the juice has become a thick syrup. Strain the cranberries and collect the juice. Let the juice cool. Once cool add the juice to the powdered sugar. Start with 1 cup and slowly add more powdered sugar until you reach the desired thickness.
- Let the cake cool completely when out of the oven. You want it to be cool so it will come out of the bundt pan in one piece. Place the cake over a wire rack and glaze the cake. Add as much glaze as desired.
- The cake should last about a week in an airtight container. The cake can also be frozen and should last 3-4 months.
Did you make this recipe?! Let me know and share it on Instagram. Tag @crispcrumble and use the hashtag #crispandcrumble.Â
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