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These delicious mini Cranberry Orange Bundt Cakes are a delicious combination of fresh cranberries, orange zest, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. They're perfect for the holidays and entertaining. These mini bundts make great single servings and are even tastier when served with whipped creme fraiche.
Love the combination of cranberries and orange, but looking for something a little different? Fresh cranberries give these mini bundt cakes a nice tart flavor, orange zest and orange juice add a nice citrus flavor, and California Punes give these yummy cakes a natural fruity flavor, a beautiful color, and replaces part of the sugar in this recipe. The final cake is moist and flavorful and made beautiful by using the Brilliance Bundtlette Pan.
This recipe was inspired by my Raspberry Loaf Cake, which also uses California prunes to add color, flavor, and sweetness.
Ingredients for These Cranberry Orange Cakes
These are the ingredients that you'll need for these mini Bundt cakes:
- California Prunes. The prunes are pureed and used to replace part of the sugar and moisture in the recipe.
- Fresh Cranberries. Add a nice tart flavor and a pop of color. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries.
- Orange Zest. The zest adds a nice citrusy floral note to the cake.
- Orange Juice. The fresh orange juice combines well with the cranberries and adds a citrus flavor to the cake.
- Full-Fat Sour Cream. The sour cream adds moisture and tenderness to the cakes.
- Ground Cardamom. The cardamom adds a slight floral note to the cake. You can also use ground cinnamon.
How to Use California Prunes as a Sugar Substitute
California Prunes are tart and sweet at the same time. Because of their delicious flavor, they're great for enhancing the flavor and sweetness of baked goods.
Using California prunes as a sugar substitute works best in recipes that are mixed by hand and don't require the butter and sugar to be creamed together. You can replace 1/3 to 1/2 of the sugar in your recipe with prune puree, but start with the smaller amount to see how it turns out in your recipe. See this recipe and instructions at California Prunes to make your prune puree.
How to Make These Mini Bundt Cakes
These cakes are a two-bowl recipe and are made by hand. The wet ingredients are mixed in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another.
Place the prunes in a heatproof bowl and pour 1/3 cup of boiling water over the prunes. Let them sit in the hot water for 10 minutes to soften. Transfer the prune/water mixture to the bowl of a mini food processor or blender and process until paste forms. It's okay if flecks of prune remain.
Chop the cranberries in a food processor with just 3 or 4 pulses. Or chop them by hand.
Place the brown sugar and the granulated sugar in a large bowl. Zest the orange directly into the sugar until you have what appears to be two teaspoons. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar. Zesting the orange directly into the sugar ensures that you capture the oils that are released when the oranges are zested.
Add the eggs to the sugar and whisk together until well combined and the sugar starts to dissolve. Add 1/3 cup of prune puree and whisk to combine.
Next add the melted butter, whisk and then add the sour cream and orange juice. Whisk all the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
Add the flour in two batches, and use a spatula to fold in the flour just until it's mixed in. Add the chopped cranberries and fold them into the batter. You should have about 940 grams of batter.
Divide the batter evenly between the individual cake wells. Tap the pan on a folded dish towel 2-3 times to settle the batter into the crevices. Bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes until the temperature registers 200F or a cake skewer inserted into 1 or 2 of the cakes comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto a large cooling rack.
How to Serve the Cakes
Serve the cakes with a dusting of powdered sugar and whipped creme fraiche or add a glaze to the cakes. The recipe for the glaze is in the recipe instructions.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Make sure the eggs and sour cream are at room temperature
- Use a scale to measure your flour to ensure you have the right amount
- Melt the butter on low heat to minimize evaporation and splatter. Heat teh butter just until it's melted and cool until it is just barely warm.
- Use Baker's Joy to coat the mini bundt cake wells
Recommended Equipment
For this recipe I used the mini Brilliance Bundtlette Pan. It has a 5 cup capacity and makes six individual cakes. If using a different Bundtlette pan such as the Classic Bundtlette pan, you may have extra batter. Simply make 1 or 2 cupcakes with the leftover batter.
Mini Bundt Cakes - Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the mini bundt cakes can be frozen. Wrap each one individually in plastic wrap then place them in a freezer bag.
Most mini bundt cake pans are a total of 5 cups. Divide the cups of the mini bundt cake pan by the cups of the regular bundt pan. The resultant percentage is the amount by which you should reduce your original recipe.
For this recipe, you can fill the bundt pans about 3/4 full.
I hope you try this recipe. The combination of cranberry and orange is delicious and the prune puree adds a nice fruity flavor to the cake. If do you try this recipe please leave a comment and if you have questions please leave a Comment.
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Cranberry Orange Mini Bundt Cakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Prune Puree
- 1/2 cup (88 grams) California prunes
- 1/2 cup boiling water
Cranberry Orange Cake
- 1 cup (114 grams) fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 cup (130 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- 3 large (150 grams) eggs room temperature
- 1/3 cup (90 grams) pureed prunes
- 12 tablespoons (169 grams) unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) full fat sour cream room temperature
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
Orange Glaze (Optional)
- 1-3/4 cups (210 grams) powdered sugar sifted
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Prune Puree
- Place the prunes in a bowl and pour 1/2 cup of boiling water over the prunes. Let the prunes sit for 15 minutes. Place the prunes and liquid in a food processor and process until the prunes are smooth. It’s okay if there are large pieces of prune.
Chopped Cranberries
- Place the cranberries in a food processor and pulse 3 times to roughly chop the cranberries. Scrape them into a bowl and set aside.
Cranberry Orange Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Melt the butter over medium low heat and once it’s almost melted remove it from the heat and let it cool until it is just warm.
- Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cardamom in a medium-sized bowl and whisk for 30 seconds to combine the ingredients.
- Place the brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Zest the orange directly onto the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the orange zest into the sugar. Add the eggs and whisk until the eggs and sugars are thoroughly combined. Add 1/3 cup of prune puree and whisk until combined.
- Add the melted butter and whisk to incorporate. Next add the sour cream and orange juice and whisk until mixed in. Add the flour in two batches and use a silicone spatula to fold the flour into the batter.
- Add the chopped cranberries and gently fold them into the batter.
- Spray the interior of each cake well with Baker’s Joy. If using the Brilliant Bundtlette Pan add 145 grams of batter to each cake well. If there is any leftover batter, use it to make 1 or 2 cupcakes.
- Bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes or until the cakes spring back when touched with you finger or the cakes register about 200°F in the center.
- Remove the cakes from the oven. Let them cool for 10 minutes and then invert them onto a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before adding the glaze or sprinkling with powdered sugar.
Orange Glaze
- Put the powdered sugar in a bowl. Add the orange juice, sour cream and salt and stir until it is a smooth thick glaze. If more liquid is needed, add orange juice 1 teaspoon at a time, until the desired thickness is achieved.
Serving the Cakes
- The cakes taste great sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with creme fraiche. The sourness of the creme fraiche goes really well with the sweetness of the cake.
- You can also add a glaze to the cakes, which is optional since the cakes are delicious by themselves.
Dee says
Hello. What temperature do you bake the cakes?
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Dee
The cakes bake at 350F. I have corrected the recipe and added that information to the recipe card. Thanks for letting me know.
Sharon Escalante says
I don't want to use prunes. how much sugar do i put total in place of prunes in the cake mix?
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Sharon
If you don't want to use the prune puree replace it with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. So you'll have 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.
Sharon Escalante says
Thanks for info. Much appreciated.