Orange and Cranberry Christmas Cake
This orange and cranberry christmas cake is a layered cake with some of the wonderful, traditional flavours of christmas. Cranberries are used amply at christmas time
Ingredients
- 400 ml Almond milk unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
- 300 g Sugar caster, super-fine
- 1 tablespoon Orange extract
- 150 ml Vegetable/ coconut oil
- 350 g Flour plain, white, all-purpose
- ¾ teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
For the Icing
- 365 g Icing sugar
- 300 g Unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoon Cranberry sauce/ jam
- 2 handfuls Fresh cranberries/ redcurrants
- 1-2 teaspoon Orange colouring optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/ 356°F. Prep your 6 inch baking tins with a circle of baking paper at the bottom. I use a bit of oil to make the paper stick to the tin.
- Pour your milk and apple cider vinegar into a large bowl and whisk together briefly, until just combined. Set this aside for a couple of minutes. It will curdle (but don't worry- this is what we want!). In another bowl, sieve the flour, soda, baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Mix these dry ingredients together with a spoon. Then, place your caster sugar, orange extract, orange colouring + oil into the wet milk mixture. Whisk together until just combined. Using a large spoon, spoon your dry flour mixture into the wet mixture, whisking as you go.
- Pour your cake batter into the two lined tins, evenly. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a knife comes out of the centre clean. Then leave the cakes to cool completely. If you are using 8 inch cake tins which are more shallow, bake for around 30 minutes, or until a knife comes out of the centre clean
- Once your cake is completely cool, cut the top off of the cake (which would have grown above the tin). Use a sharp knife to cut the top of the cake off whilst it is still in the cake tin. Use the edge of the cake tin to guide you, making this a super even cut. Then. take the sponges out of the tins and cut them into 4 equal cake layers. I use a cake leveller for this, which you can find on my Amazon Shop!
- In a standing mixer, mix the butter for around 2 minutes, until creamed. Add the vanilla extract and mix again for another 30 seconds. Then, add the icing sugar and mix on a low speed for around 30 seconds and then increase to a high speed, until combined and fluffy (around 5 minutes). If you think your icing is too soft you can always add more icing sugar. Equally, if you think your icing is too thick, add a tablespoon of cold water.
- Place one layer of sponge in the centre of a cake plate. Then put a layer of buttercream icing on top. Then create an icing barrier around the edge on top of the first icing layer (use a piping bag to help you with this step). Place 2 tablespoon of cranberry sauce in the middle of this icing barrier. Then repeat this process for the rest of the cake layers.
- Using a piping bag with icing in, spread the icing around the edge and the top of the cake. Use a cake spatula to smooth it all out. If you don’t have these, you can do more of a rustic pattern with a knife. I did a more naked look on this cake but it is up to you! Place the cake in the fridge to cool for as long as possible after this step (ideally at least a couple of hours).
- Crown the cake with some fresh cranberries and holly, or whatever you want to decorate with! Some oranges and orange peel would be beautiful too! Slice it up, and devour!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!