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An overhead shot of a just-baked cranberry and orange buttermilk breakfast cake.

Cranberry & Orange Buttermilk Breakfast Cake


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4.9 from 73 reviews

Description

Notes: This recipe is essentially the Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake recipe but with cranberries swapped for the blueberries.

I’ve increased the sugar to 1 cup (from 7/8 cup) b/c cranberries are a bit tart and substituted orange zest for the lemon zest. If you don’t like cranberries, many people have had luck with frozen blueberries. Also, this batter can be prepared the night before.

Don’t store it in the pan you plan on baking it in — store it in tupperware of some sort, then transfer to a greased pan in the morning.


Ingredients

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • the zest from 1 orange zest
  • 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups (256 g) flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries
  • ½ cup buttermilk

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with orange zest and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the cranberries with 2 tablespoons of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the cranberries.
  4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes, then check for doneness by touching the top gently or by inserting a toothpick. If necessary, return pan to oven, check every five minutes or so — it took my cake a little bit over 45 minutes to cook. (Note: Baking for as long as 50 minutes might be necessary, especially if you made the batter in advance.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American