If you love all things Fall but need a break from pumpkin spiced flavored everything, this cranberry bunt cake is the perfect thing! The wonderful cinnamon flavor helps to underline the chocolate cranberry beautifully, and it'll stay deliciously moist from your first bit to your last.
This cake is very easy to make and allows you a lot of versatility. You can either add rum– which pairs wonderfully with the dark chocolate chips and the cranberries – or orange juice if you want your children to enjoy it, too.
I love making baking this in my oven when the air starts to get crisp, the days get a little shorter, and the leaves begin to change. Whether you're celebrating the first day of Autumn or you're ringing in the holidays with loved ones, this cranberry bunt cake is the perfect addition to any gathering!
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🥘 Ingredients
- Homemade Cake Mix
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Cocoa
- Cinnamon - Reach for Ceylon cinnamon when buying. Ceylon cinnamon, which is more expensive than Cassia cinnamon, contains hardly any Curamine. Curamine in large amounts can be toxic and should not be consumed, especially by pregnant women.
- Vanilla Sugar - homemade or store-bought
- Eggs
- Granulated Sugar
- Whole Milk
- Vegetable Oil
- Rum
- Dried Cranberry - if you can find it, reach for the dried cranberries sweetened with brown sugar.
- Dark Chocolate chips
- Baking Spray or Vegetable Oil for the Pan
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
The first thing you'll need to do is sieve the bundt cake mix into a mixing bowl and start combining your dry ingredients using a wooden spoon.
Once your cake mix is well combined, grab another mixing bowl and mix the eggs on medium speed. While they mix, you'll add the sugar spoon by spoon.
After your eggs start to become fluffy, go ahead and lower your mixer to the lowest setting and slowly pour in the milk, rum (or orange juice, for the kids' friendly version), and oil. Next, start adding the flour mixture. The last items you'll add are the dried cranberry and chopped chocolate.
While you're prepping your bundt pan, you can also start preheating the oven to 200 °C / 400 °F. You'll need to brush the pan with vegetable oil or non-stick baking spray before pouring in the batter. Don't forget this step! Failing to remember this step could spell disaster when you finally go to flip your bunt cake over afterward.
Depending on the size of the bundt pan make sure that you don’t overfill it and leave some space for the batter to rise while baking (about 1-1.5 inches).
You'll start baking your bundt cake at 200 °C / 400 °F for 15 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 180 °C / 356 °F and bake for another 15 minutes.
Once it's finished in the oven, allow your cake to cool down a little bit – about 10-15 minutes – before covering it with a big enough plate and flipping it over to get it out of its mold.
Once your bunt cake has been successfully flipped, all there's left to do is say Bon Appétit.
Fall in Love with these Autumn Recipes
-
White Chocolate Coconut Truffles
-
Festive Cranberry Gin and Tonic
-
Fall in Love with these Soft Pumpkin Cookies
-
5 Ingredients Raspberry Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies
🍊 Substitutions
You can swap the rum in this recipe for orange juice to make this cranberry bundt cake alcohol-free! While it's not quite the same regarding taste, the cranberry-orange combination is still perfect!
If you do opt for the cranberry-orange combination, I recommend topping the cake with a little bit of orange zest! If you're feeling really fancy, you can garnish the cake (or accompanying adult beverages) with fresh orange peels.
If you're someone who really can't get enough of the orange flavor, you could also top the cake with a light orange juice glaze.
🍑 Variations
This bundt cake recipe can be easily varied by adding different kinds of nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate chips. You'll have lots of room for creativity and personal preference here.
If you can find them in the grocery store, you could also top your bundt cake with fresh cranberries for decoration – or use those fresh cranberries to make up a delicious sauce! You could also top this cake with powdered sugar.
If you're not a fan of cranberries, though, not to worry! There are plenty of other fruit and combinations for you to explore if tart cranberries aren't your jam.
⚭ PERFECT PAIRINGS
If you're looking for a delicious drink to that will perfectly pair with this cranberry bundt cake, I've got a few suggestions of irresistible flavor combinations that can help elevate any occasion;
- Hot Chocolate with Rum
- Cranberry Aperol Spritz
- Cranberry Mimosa
- Prosecco Cosmo
- White Russian / Black Russian
- Baileys on the Rocks
- Cointreau Coffee
- Orange-Flavored Whipped Cream
- Cinnamon-Flavored Whipped Cream
🍽 Equipment
- Bundt Cake Pan (~10 inch) – (Personally, I am a fan of the Nordic Ware Bundt Pan)
- Hand/Stand Mixer
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
🌡 Storage
This delicious cranberry bunt cake will make about 8-10 servings and last only three days. Be sure to store your leftover cake in an airtight container or wrap it securely in saran wrap.
🙋🏻 FAQ
A bundt cake is made in a bundt pan, which has much of an effect on the appearance as it does the taste. Because of the design of the bundt pan, bundt cakes don't have as much room to expand – making them moist and dense – unlike other cakes that might be more light and airy.
It's not the ingredients in the batter that makes bundt cakes so different than other cakes – it's the bundt pan itself.
The shape and design of the pan allow the cake less room to expand as it's baking, and more of the cake batter is exposed to high temperatures while in the oven.
The main difference between these two cakes is again the shape – but the pound cake is also unique for its recipe, made from a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs, and a pound of flour.
Other Recipes for You to Try
- The Ultimate Double Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Easy & Delicious Chestnut Cake
- Potato Flour Cake with Eggnog
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Chip Ricotta Loaf Cake
If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it by ★★★★★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. This would be awesome! You can also sign up for our Newsletter or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @combinegoodflavors and hashtag #combinegoodflavors, so I don't miss it.
📖 Recipe
Cranberry Bundt Cake
Equipment
- Bundt cake pan ~ 10 inches
- Hand/stand mixer
- Sieve
- Bowl
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup All-purpose flour sieved
- 2 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 2 teaspoon Cocoa
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 cup Whole milk
- ½ cup Vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon Rum Switch the rum for orange juice if you have kids.
- ¼ cup Dried cranberries
- ½ cup Dark chocolate chips
- Baking spray or vegetable oil for the pan
Instructions
- Combine 2 ½ cup All-purpose flour, 2 ½ teaspoon Baking powder, 2 teaspoon Cocoa, 1 tablespoon Cinnamon, 2 teaspoon Vanilla sugar in a mixing bowl.2 ½ cup All-purpose flour, 2 ½ teaspoon Baking powder, 2 teaspoon Cocoa, 1 tablespoon Cinnamon, 2 teaspoon Vanilla sugar
- Mix the ingredients using a wooden spoon until well combined.
- On medium speed using a mixer, mix 4 Eggs and add spoon-by-spoon 1 cup Granulated sugar to them.4 Eggs, 1 cup Granulated sugar
- After the eggs become fluffy lower the mixing speed to a minimum and slowly pour in 1 cup Whole milk, 2 teaspoon Rum (or orange juice), and ½ cup Vegetable oil, then start adding the dry mix, and in the end, add ¼ cup Dried cranberries and ½ cup Dark chocolate chips.1 cup Whole milk, ½ cup Vegetable oil, 2 teaspoon Rum, ¼ cup Dried cranberries, ½ cup Dark chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C / 400 °F.
- Use Baking spray or vegetable oil for the pan, and pour in the batter. Depending on the size of the pan make sure that you don’t overfill it and leave some space for the batter to rise while baking (about 1-1.5 inches).Baking spray or vegetable oil for the pan
- Bake the cake at 200 °C / 400 °F for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 °C / 356 °F and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Once baked leave the cake to slightly cool down (10-15 minutes), before covering it with a big enough plate, then flip it over (invert it over the plate) and unmold it.
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
⛑️ Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Padma
Your detailed instructions helped me bake this bake to perfection. We all loved it!
Nora
Thank you Padma! I am happy it was helpful!
Andréa Janssen
Yummie, cranberries and chocolate are such a delicious combination. Perfect for a bundt cake and this looks terrific. Thank you for sharing!
Nora
Thank you so much, Andréa!
Conchetta
You had me at Chocolate & Cranberry! So glad I tried it. Yum I have shared with friends. This is what Fall is all about...
Nora
Thank you, Conchetta! So happy you and your friends enjoyed it!
Mary
Cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate chips and cranberries? Yes! This is a delicious flavor combination. I am jealous of your Bundt pans!
Nora
Thank you so much, Mary! That's so sweet of you!
Mina
Yes to chocolate + cranberries! Perfect combo!
Nora
Thank you, Mina!