My Cranberry Orange Cake Is the Holiday Dessert Everyone Asks For

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Cranberry orange cake pairs soft and fluffy cake layers with a bright cranberry filling and orange-infused frosting. It’s perfectly balanced, impressive, and SO festive for fall and winter holidays! Recipe includes a how-to video!

Slice of cranberry orange cake made with a cranberry sauce filling and orange cream cheese frosting on a plate.

Cranberry Orange Layer Cake

Today’s cranberry orange cake is a festive (and impressive) seasonal dessert that’s a great alternative to all things pumpkin spice or peppermint. It has four layers of fluffy, orange-infused cake and three layers of bright cranberry sauce. Everything is wrapped in a semi-naked layer of orange cream cheese frosting, and if you want to go the extra mile, topped with a sprinkling of sugared cranberries.

It’s stunning, has an incredible flavor, and will surely be the star of your holiday dinner!

Why This Recipe WORKS

Trusted cake recipe: We’ll use an orange-infused version of my popular white cake recipe for the cake layers. The results? Fluffy, soft, moist, and absolutely amazing with the filling and frosting we’re using today.
Cranberry filling vs. cranberries in the cake: I experimented with adding cranberries to the cake layers, but I found that a cranberry sauce filling layer was best. It’s essentially a smoother, sweeter version of my favorite cranberry sauce recipe, and it is a nice tart counterpart to the sweet cake!
Not-too-sweet frosting: My popular cream cheese frosting recipe gets a citrusy makeover today with the addition of orange zest and juice. The result is incredible and perfectly sweet! Psst…this frosting would be amazing on my spice cake or carrot cake!

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Cranberry Orange Layer Cake
Why This Recipe WORKS
Ingredients
How to Make Cranberry Orange Cake
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Recipes
Cranberry Orange Cake

Ingredients

Oranges & cranberries. You’ll need fresh oranges and either fresh or frozen cranberries. Make sure you zest your oranges before juicing them, as it’s nearly impossible the other way around.
All-purpose flour. I usually use all-purpose flour, but you can use cake flour if desired–substitution instructions are in the recipe notes below.
Egg whites. We will be whipping these separately to stiff peaks before folding them into the cake batter (makes for a light and fluffy texture!). It is very important that you do not get ANY egg yolk in with the egg whites, or they will not whip up properly. If you don’t want to waste your egg yolks, save them for crème brûlée or tiramisu. I don’t recommend liquid egg whites — they’re not always reliable!
Buttermilk. This keeps the cake soft, plush, and moist (especially important since the cake needs to be refrigerated). I’ve tried swapping the buttermilk with orange juice and was not thrilled with the results, buttermilk is best!
Butter. I like to use unsalted butter in the cake layers and salted butter in the frosting, but you can use unsalted for both and just add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the frosting.
Cream cheese. It’s very important that you use full-fat, block-style cream cheese; the spreadable cream cheese sold in tubs will not have the same consistency and can make your frosting runny.

This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

SAM’S TIP: Some of you may see the quantity of powdered sugar in the frosting and think I’m a sugar fiend (not entirely wrong). Remember, this is a BIG cake (four layers!) and you really need the full amount for the proper texture and sweetness. If you reduce the sugar, you will run into issues with the frosting being too soft/runny, and not covering the entire cake.

How to Make Cranberry Orange Cake

Yes, there are quite a few steps for my cranberry orange cake recipe, but none are overly complicated. The cake is a showstopper and well worth the effort–just wait til you taste it!

Make the Cake Batter

Creamed butter, sugar, oil, and orange zest in a bowl.

Step 1: Cream the fats, sugar, and citrus. Beat the butter, oil, sugar, and orange zest together until well combined and creamy. Adding the orange zest here helps release the citrus oils and brings out the flavor!

Buttermilk being poured into cranberry orange cake batter while mixing with a hand mixer.

Step 2: Add the buttermilk and dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, then alternate between adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Be careful not to over-mix, but also make sure you don’t have any pockets of flour hiding anywhere.

Bowl of egg whites that have been whipped to stiff peaks.

Step 3: Whip the egg whites. Carefully separate your egg whites, then place them in a separate clean, dry, and grease-free mixing bowl. Whip them with an electric mixer (use clean beaters!) until thick, fluffy, and stiff.

Folding whipped egg whites into cake batter with a spatula.

Step 4: Combine into a smooth batter. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter until everything is evenly combined. Again, don’t over-mix here (but do make sure the egg whites are well distributed and no streaks remain!)!

SAM’S TIP: It is very important that you use a separate clean, dry, and grease-free bowl and beaters to whip your egg whites, otherwise they may never whip to stiff peaks.

Bake the Cakes

Spatula spreading cake batter into a round cake pan.

Step 5: Divide & bake. Evenly divide the batter between your prepared pans. You can always divide the batter between two 8″ pans (your bake time will be longer) and then cut each layer in half, but I’m terrible at slicing a cake in half like that and prefer to use four pans instead. If you use four pans, it’s fine to let 2 pans sit on the counter while the other two bake (if your oven can’t accommodate them all at once — they all need to bake on the center rack).

Four layers of cake cooling on cooling racks.

Step 6: Cool completely. Check the cakes for doneness (I like to use a toothpick!), then remove from the oven. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely.

Cranberry Filling

Overhead view of sugar, orange juice, and water in a saucepan.

Step 7: Start with a simple syrup. Cook the sugars, orange juice, and water over medium low heat until the sugar completely dissolves.

Overhead view of cranberry sauce being stirred on the stovetop.

Step 8: Cook til thickened. Add the berries and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer until the filling thickens to a jammy consistency. If desired, you can blend the sauce til smooth with an immersion blender (my preference and recommendation), otherwise pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool completely.

Frosting & Assembly

Hand mixer mixing frosting together in a bowl.

Step 9: Make the frosting. Beat the butter, cream cheese, and orange zest til smooth, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Add the orange juice and vanilla, then stir again til smooth and combined.

Piping a frosting dam onto the second layer of a cake.

Step 10: Assemble the cake. Pipe a frosting dam around your first layer and add ⅓ of your cranberry filling in the center, spreading all the way to the dam. Add another cake layer on top, pipe a frosting border, then add ½ of the remaining cranberry sauce in the center like you did for the first layer. Repeat this process one more time, ending with the final cake layer.

Smoothing an orange infused cream cheese frosting naked-style over a cake.

Step 11: Decorate and chill. Use the remaining frosting to coat the outside of the cake; it won’t be enough to fully cover the cake and will be a more rustic, naked-style coating. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for at least half an hour before attempting to slice–it will be messy if you try to cut into it right away!

FROSTING NOTE: I like to decorate this cranberry orange cake semi-naked style, meaning it will not be completely covered in frosting. If you prefer a fully frosted cake, you will need to increase the frosting by approximately 50%.

Cross section of a cranberry orange cake made with a cranberry sauce filling and orange cream cheese frosting on a cake pedestal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you freeze cranberry orange cake?

Yes! Just make sure to wrap it well in plastic wrap and store in an airtight, freezer-safe container. It will keep this way for several months.

To thaw, unwrap and let it sit at room temperature or in the fridge until softened.

Would store-bought cranberry sauce work?

You could try using store-bought cranberry sauce, but the flavor will likely be different and less sweet than what I’m using here. If you were to use store-bought, you’d need about 2 cups.

Can I add cranberries to the cake layers?

I did try this recipe with cranberries in the layers a few times, but it was honestly just too much and not as good. If you want to add them, I’d recommend adding no more than a handful to the batter.