This vegan Cranberry Cake recipe is so festive and lively! scented with orange and toasty walnuts and has a light and tender crumb with just the right balance of sweet and tart- it’s hard to believe it’s vegan! Video.
Snow was falling, so much like stars filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine its reason for being was nothing more than prettiness.
~ Mary Oliver
Why You’ll Love This
We love using fresh cranberries in desserts and try to incorporate them in where we can while the season lasts! They give such a nice balance to the sweet abundance of this time of year.
This Cranberry Cake is easy to put together and just as good the next day. And no one will even know it’s vegan! They will just know it is delicious and worthy of a second piece! Serve it up as a dessert or as a morning or afternoon treat.
The cake is tender and moist with a lovely synergy of flavors. Olive oil gives a subtle, rich depth, harmoniously complementing the tart fresh cranberries and bright orange flavors. Crunchy toasted walnuts lend texture, earthiness and depth. You may also enjoy these cranberry orange muffins!
Cranberry Cake Ingredients
- Fresh cranberries: Sweet and tart and full of delicious flavor this time of year!
- Toasted walnuts: Adds warm, nutty flavor to the cake with a crunchy texture.
- Sugar: For just the right amount of sweetness.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder and baking soda: Leavening agents to help the cake rise and achieve a light and fluffy texture.
- Sea salt: To enhance all of the flavors in the cake.
- Vanilla extract: For subtle sweetness and cozy flavor.
- Orange oil: This is optional, but adds more orange peel flavor. You can also just add more zest!
- Orange juice and zest: Zest the orange before slicing and juicing. Use fresh orange juice.
- Vegan yogurt: Or sub applesauce.
- Non-dairy milk: Oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, or whatever you prefer!
- Olive oil: Use extra virgin olive oil or milder if you prefer.
- Powdered sugar glaze: Made with powdered sugar and orange juice.
Variations
- Skip the glaze and simply sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar.
- Drizzle with a chocolate glaze instead of an orange glaze.
- Add dark chocolate chips to the batter.
- If not vegan, you could always make a cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Cranberry Cake
1. Prep. Preheat oven to 350F and grease your pan. Use a 10-inch bundt pan or 8-9 inch cake pan or pie pan.
2. Mix dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and a teaspoon salt. Mix well.
3. Whisk wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together olive oil, vegan yogurt (or applesauce), nut milk, orange juice, orange zest, vanilla, and orange oil.
4. Combine the batter. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, along with the cranberries and walnuts. Fold until the flour is just incorporating, stirring gently. Work quickly, as the mixture will immediately start leavening. You don’t need to use a stand mixer for this.
5. Bake. Pour batter into the greased pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes in the preheated oven until golden and puffed. You can always do the toothpick test to see if it is done.
6. Cool. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack before removing from the pan. Then, loosen the edges with a small rubber spatula to help remove the cake.
7. Make the glaze. If adding a glaze, let the cake cool for an hour before glazing. Whisk together sifted powder sugar and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
Chef’s Tips
- Don’t skip toasting the walnuts! Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet until fragrant.
- Be careful not to over-mix the batter. This can result in a rough, grainy texture instead of a moist and tender cake. Fold the flour in until just incorporated.
- Let cool completely before glazing. Let the cake cool for an hour before adding the glaze.
Storage
Store leftover cake for 1-2 days at room temperature or up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also freeze the cake for up to 6 months. If freezing, wrap each slice individually in plastic wrap.
Serving Suggestions
Serve it as a dessert with our vegan ice cream or whipped cream. Or serve it for brunch or an afternoon snack with tea or coffee.
FAQs
You can store the cake at room temperature or in the fridge, but it will last up to a week in the fridge. At room temp, it will only keep up to two days.
Yes! Fresh cranberries make this cake so decadent. Pat them dry before mixing them into the batter, or toss them with a little flour if you’re worried about them bleeding.
Yes, but I would thaw them, rinse them, and let them dry before mixing into the batter.
This Cranberry Christmas Cake is scented with orange and toasty walnuts has a light and tender crumb with just the right balance of sweet and tart. Festive and delicious, a perfect holiday dessert!
Happy holidays!
More Recipes You May Enjoy
Watch how to make it!
Fresh Cranberry Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 12
- Category: Vegan Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Cranberry Cake is scented with orange and toasty walnuts has a light and tender crumb with just the right balance of sweet and tart. Festive and delicious, a perfect holiday dessert! Vegan!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
- 2 cups (250 grams) flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 cup (177 ml) olive oil, extra virgin or milder if you prefer
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) vegan yogurt (or applesauce)
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) non-dairy milk (oat, almond, coconut, hemp, whatever you prefer)
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon orange oil (optional! see notes)
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 cup (100 grams) fresh cranberries
- 1 cup (117 grams) toasted walnuts
powdered sugar glaze
- 1 cup (120 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Oil your pan and set aside. (10 ” bundt pan or 8″ or 9″ cake pan)
- In a large bowl mix together sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt.
- Whisk together olive oil, vegan yogurt (or applesauce), nut milk, orange juice and zest, vanilla and orange oil.
- Add wet mixture into the flour mixture along with cranberries and walnuts. Stir gently, enough to fold together until flour is just incorporated. Work quickly as it will immediately start leavening.
- Pour evenly into oiled pan.
- Bake 350 40- 50 minutes until golden and puffed.
- Let cool in for 15 minutes before removing from pan (especially if using a bundt pan.). Loosen the edges if needed with a small rubber spatula (or something other than sharp metal that could harm your pan).
for the glaze
- Allow cake to cool about 1 hour before glazing.
- Whisk together sifted powder sugar and orange juice until perfectly smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.
Notes
Store cake covered at room temperature for 1 day. Or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Toast walnuts 8-10 minutes at 350 F
Orange oil gives more of the bitter orange peel notes. Add more zest if omitting.
Glazed walnuts and cranberries for garnish: pour 2 tablespoons of maple syrup in a pan with a small handful of walnuts and cranberries. Stir together over medium heat until maple bubbles. Put on a plate to cool. Cranberries can be cut in half. Some cranberries and nuts will stick to the icing on the cake, some will fall around the plate for a beautifully rustic presentation!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 380
- Sugar: 27.7 g
- Sodium: 257.1 mg
- Fat: 21.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 47.2 g
- Fiber: 2.1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Could I use spelt flour?
Haven’t tried it but I think it should work.
Absolutely devine! Thank You!
Nice to hear!
Delicious and all my guest loved it too. I used a vegan yogurt, canola oil, and frozen cranberries . I will make it again . Thank you
Excellent Marna, happy to hear this!
This looks lovely, I can’t wait to make it ahead for Christmas, Will it freeze well?
It should freeze just fine.
Hi and thanks for such marvelous recipes!
I’m a vegetarian and make a lot of vegan dishes too. I want to make this cake fir a friend’s Xmas party. She prefers gluten free if possible. I saw a comment where someone subbed Bob’s Red Mill gluten free and didn’t mention having to add anything else like eggs. Would appreciate your advice on this one. Thank you!
Hi Heather, We have not tried it with a gf flour blend. But it does look like others have had success doing so!
Fabulous! I made the first one and had to make it again as soon as it was gone. Followed the recipe as posted. It’s my favorite cake (amazing for this chocolate lover) and a family favorite! Thank you!
Awesome, great to hear!
Very tasty cake! I am not vegan but my friend is so I made this cake exactly following the recipe and it turned out great! I didn’t have a bundt pan so I put in muffin tins and baked for about 25 mins and they were great 🙂
Great to hear Julie!
This recipe gave me a lunching point to use up some leftovers from Thanksgiving! I had made Tonia’s Orange Maple Cranberry Sauce and didn’t want to waste it so, created muffins using this recipe. I added about 1 & 1/4 cups of cranberry sauce with the wet ingredients. Other modifications: reduce olive oil to 1/2 cup; sub 1/2 cup honey-marmalade for all sugar; used applesauce in place of yogurt and yogurt in place of milk.
Wow Anna! Love it.
It tasted amazing! I will definitely bake it again!
FYI: Make sure you make it cool all the way before taking it out of the bundt pan!
My husband just made this! I think this will be a holiday tradition to keep. It was so tasty. He used O Oil Blood Orange Olive Oil.
That’s a great idea! So glad you liked it!
Sylvia hi,
This recipe looks amazing and I would love to try it. However, I’m in Normandy and no way are there fresh cranberries (or fresh cherries or anything) here at this time of year. Would could I use ? Any way to use dried cranberries ? P.S. I absolutely LOVE your recipes !
Hi Anne, Something tart really balances the flavors and sweetness. Are there frozen cranberries? Or lingnon berries? You could use dried cranberries with some tart apple chunks? Let us know what you try!
I made this cake at Christmas and it was DELICIOUS !!! And I found fresh cranberries too !!! This was such a success that I’ve made it again today for friends. Thank you for such a beautiful recipe, that looks as good as it tastes ! Anne
Oh nice Anne! So great to hear!
I appreciate your website sooooooo much!!!! Thank you for all of your great recipes! I made this twice …. so yummy …. no eggs! no butter! Yaaaay! I don’t have a bundt pan and there’s only two of us in the house. This recipe is so easy to halve or quarter to make a smaller cake. I made ours in a pyrex dish. Yum Yum!
Thanks Debbie! We are so happy you are here and so glad you are enjoying the cake!
Super tasty, definitely a favorite along with the vegan lemon coconut cake from the site. Left out the orange oil and used 2x orange zest. Didn’t make the glaze bc cake was great without it.
Nice Bowie, thanks so much for sharing.
Making it right now, really to eleven and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder?..
1 and 1/2!
It’s so delicious it won’t last the weekend!
I used GF 1:1 baking flour and applesauce. (and only 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder LOL). By the time it cooled and I tasted it, I totally skipped the glaze and toppings. This is a keeper!!!! I’ve already share the recipe link with friends. THANKS
Yay, great to hear Pamela! And thanks for catching that… 🙃
This dish is so flavorful. Simple but full of flavor. I would suggest a insta pot since the split pees take so long to cook.
I will be making this dish again.
Oh shoot Carl, I think you meant this for the Split Pea Soup?
This is a lovely recipe. I subbed bob’s red mill gluten free 1:1 flour and it came out great! No other changes or substitution needed.
Oh perfect Jenny! That is so good to hear, thanks so much!
Perfect texture, flavours and so pretty scattered with sliced cranberries and the orange glaze. Very easy to throw together. Loved it!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed Patty!
Can you use dry cranberries instead of fresh?
Sure! It will be sweeter, but you can always cut down on sugar… or not.
Hello! Could you please add weights to the recipe? Thank you!
Ok added! 😊
I made this for my niece who is vegan and it was outstanding. I gave her the lion’s share to take home but kept some for myself and I am not vegan. Super moist crumb, wonderful cranberry orange flavor – a fabulous recipe for the fall and the holidays. Thank you so much
Fabulous to hear Kim!
Hi, Looks delicious. Can gluten free flour be used? If so Bob’s 1:1 or other? Thank you and Happy Holidays
Hi Lynne, I haven’t experimented with GF flour blend but I think it is worth a try!
Hi Sylvia, this cake looks amazing. I am gluten free. Do you think I could get by with 1-1 GF flour? Maybe adding some xanthan gum or an egg? Thank you!
I haven’t done it… but that is what I would try, 1-1 GF flour plus maybe 2 eggs. I would also cut back on the milk, so that the eggs and milk equal the milk amount called for in the recipe. Let us know how it works!
Sylvia, this sounds delicious. Do you think it will work with standard Greek yogurt and dairy milk?
Yes! If your yogurt is really thick I would water (or milk) it down a little to the consistency of regular yogurt.
Today I printed out three of your recipes that I cannot wait to try out. Roasted sun choke and Barley Bowl, Vegan Breakfast Tacos and this marvelous looking bundt cake recipe. I follow many healthy vegan/raw food blogs, but I have to say I make many of your recipes as I love the colour of your food as well as the textures and the combination of amazing taste. You are AMAZING, and you inspire me to make foods that are nourishing to all my senses, thank you!
Thanks so much, Tracy- glad you are enjoying the recipes!
This sounds good, but what size pan?
How does this hold together without flax eggs?
How to get to other people’s comments?
Hi Andrea, This cake recipe is brand new, so not a lot of comments yet. The gluten in the flour creates the structure in this recipe along with the vegan yogurt (or applesauce) working as the binder. 😊
The pan size- 10″ bundt or 8″-9″ cake pan (now included in the recipe card). Thanks!!