Looking for a tangy and sweet cake recipe that blends the awesome flavors of fresh citrusy orange with tart cranberries? The late addition of egg whites into the batter keeps the cake nice and fluffy, and the orange zest sprinkled throughout the batter ensures a tasty bit of orange flavor in every bite.
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange zest, finely grated
- 2 ¼ cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup orange juice
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- ⅔ cup cranberry sauce
- Preheat oven to 375℉. Grease 2 8” round pans and set aside.
- With an electric mixer, cream butter, vanilla and sugars until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Alternate pouring and mixing in the flour mixture and the orange juice into the butter/sugar mixture. Beat well after each addition.
- Beat egg whites with electric mixer on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter with orange zest.
- Pour into prepared pans, careful to only fill ⅔ full, and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting. When frosting cake, first spread cranberry sauce across the top of one cake then stack the other cake on top of the sauce. Finish with your choice of frosting.
I garnished my cake with candy gummy hearts and orange zest, but feel free to decorate however you desire. A nice orange buttercream completes the cake well, but chocolate frosting on the orange cake also makes a great combination.