Cranberry Orange Olive Oil Cake

Here’s another winning recipe! A light and fluffy cranberry orange cake, dusted with icing sugar. Like a giant fluffy winter-y muffin this cake is incredibly fluffy, tender, moist and PACKED with delicious cranberries 

‍

‍

‍

Not a fan of cranberries? Try this Blueberry Lemon Cake instead 

‍

What do you need to make this cranberry orange olive oil cake?

This is a pretty straightforward and easy recipe to make. No fancy decorating skills are needed to serve this gorgeous blueberry cake. 

‍

Olive oil - Use good quality and light olive oil! This will make all the difference in flavour

‍

Sugar - This recipe calls for just granulated sugar

‍

All-purpose flour & almond flour - Flour is what holds together your cake and gives it that delicate crumb. The addition of almond flour adds immensely to the texture and tenderness of this cake. Feel free to swap it out 1-1 with regular flour if you’re allergic

‍

Orange zest & juice - This is non-negotiable in this recipe! It will brighten up the cake and give it a little zing

‍

Eggs - Ensure that your eggs are at room temperature so they easily incorporate into your batter

‍

Cranberries - Because, duh! This cake is absolutely PACKED with delicious berries

‍

Flaked almonds - I always like to represent all ingredients in my decoration, so the almond flakes represent the almond flour that we’ve used in this cake 

‍

Baking powder & soda - These will help the cake to get a perfect rise

‍

Cinnamon - Just a little for a spice kick

‍

Full-fat Greek Yoghurt - The Greek yoghurt is here to provide acidity which will help the raising and levelling agents to do their job

‍

‍

‍

‍

Fresh vs Frozen cranberries

Both would work equally well! When cranberries are in season, I would naturally always gravitate towards using fresh berries. They are sweeter and just generally taste better when in season. HOWEVER, we all know how sensitive berries are and are bruised easily. So, if you’re looking for the most convenient and stress-free, I would opt for frozen cranberries. 

‍

Now that Thanksgiving and Christmas have come to an end, this cake is the perfect way to use up any leftover cranberries.

‍

Just remember to coat your berries in flour before adding them to the batter, to prevent them from sinking to the bottom while baking. This is especially important when you use frozen cranberries.

‍

‍

‍

Tips for making the best olive oil cake

Use good quality ingredients - Delicious cranberries, good vanilla & light and quality olive oil will make all the difference 

‍

Infuse your sugar with orange zest - rubbing the zest of your orange in the sugar before making the batter will ensure that the zest releases its oils and flavour into the sugar, giving it that extra citrusy kick

‍

Coat your berries in flour - like mentioned before, this will prevent the cranberries from sinking to the bottom

‍

Baking time and oven temperature

Baking time and oven temperature may vary depending on the oven you are using.  All oven temperatures in my recipes are based on a conventional oven. If you bake with a fan-assisted oven, turn down the temperature slightly as these ovens tend to become hotter than a conventional oven at that temperature setting. Ovens have the tendency to deviate from the temperature you set the oven to. I would highly recommend using an oven thermometer to ensure the inside of your oven is at the right temperature. My oven for example only goes up to 160C even though I turn it up to 230C 

‍

An oven that is too hot may result in an overbaked or burnt bake, an oven that is too cold may result in underbaked and soggy bakes. Having the thermometer will not only help in getting the right temperature but it also helps in determining the right baking time. 

Other factors that may affect baking time

The size of your baking dish may also highly affect your baking time. A wider pan means that the batter spreads out more, resulting in it baking faster than in a smaller pan where the batter is thicker in height. 

‍

‍

Enjoy loves xx