Cranberries are not just for cranberry sauce and cranberry juice! And we all know they’re good for us, don’t we?! I love that sour taste of Cranberries, Big Man…less so. Oh dear. But he loves cake, so a perfect compromise is to make cake with cranberries in it. I do love a Win/Win cooking situation.
This is a cake for people who are not very good with measuring ingredients as they can find the scales but not the old fashioned weights that go with it. It’s good for folk who have trouble finding the mixer or the electric whisk, who then accidentally turn the oven off for 5 minutes while baking a cake thinking they’ve turned the hob off, then open the oven door to see why the light in the oven seems to have stopped working. Yes, that was me, but this cake is like the hardiest Marine in the Cake Corps – nothing can defeat it, it WILL turn out fine no matter how badly you treat it. You can even half drop the tin as you’re turning the cake out – oh yes, I did that too – but it’s probably going to be prettier if you leave that bit out.
Ingredients for one large cake (serves about 12 – 14 slices)
- 2 ¼ cups of self raising flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- The grated zest of one orange and the juice from the orange made up to 1/3 cup with water if there is not enough
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup yogurt
- ¾ cup of oil (I used a mix of vegetable oil and olive oil)
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- ½ cup raisins (or any other dried fruit you fancy)
Grease and flour a large baking tin. I used an 11” bundt tin, but a 9” square tin would also work well. Set the oven to 175 degrees C.
Mix together the sugar, orange juice, eggs, yogurt and oil. If you can find your electric whisk, go ahead. If not, use a hand whisk with a bit of fury until all the ingredients are well blended.
Add the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon, then stir in the fruit and zest. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is pulling away from the sides of the tin, is browned on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
If you want to top it, mix 8 heaped teaspoons of sifted icing sugar with about 2-3 teaspoons of orange juice (add gradually) until you have a thick pouring paste, and drizzle over.
Make a pot of coffee, cut yourself a good slice of cake, put your feet up and relax…
For another olive oil cake recipe, take a look at my orange and raisin cake.
Chica Andaluza 
Beautiful cake and flavours! It looks delicious 🙂
Thank you!
I love a piece of cake!
We all do!
especially with rainboww cake,…..emmm deliciouse
Irresistible. Great start for the Christmas. Have a yummilicious day!
Thank yiou Ema J
Hope I can use fruit yogurt instead of a plain one. Plz suggest..
As long as you use a full fat yogurt (can’t vouch for how a reduced fat one would work) I’d use your favourite flavour!
Definitely the possibilities and varieties are endless and taste enhances when you exchange ideas. Merry Christmas!
I agree – good wishes to you too!
Best of luck to you too.
BTW Merry Christmas!
That is one tough cake. I think you definitely put it through its paces, and after all that – just when it thought it was getting a break – you went and ate it! Poor cake … but I would have done too because it looks absolutely delicious 🙂 What a great idea to use fresh cranberries in there too, very festive.
I was a bit mean to the poor cake, but it made it through and survived the experience J
I’m with Big Man, not a fan unless they are in a cake.
And I thought he was the only one!
That’s a good sounding cake….but why are you measuring in cups? I have charts all around the kitchen for converting weights and measures from accursed cups and spoons…how can a cup of flour and sugar be different and then there’s an Australian cup or an American cup…insane. However, that’s a cake worth making once it’s been converted to the true faith 🙂
I couldn’t find my weights L Sometimes I do use cups but I think my mum bought them in a Pound shop so they don’t seem to correspond to any of the standard cup measurements…hey ho, the recipes still seem to work but I do prefer to measure if I can!
Wow it looks so light and fluffy for something so robust. I love the bit about sneaking the cranberries in and why not! 😉
You have to be crafty sometimes in the kitchen!
ROFL 🙂
I love tart things like rhubarb and goosegobs, Tanya, and this cake would go down well in our house. Let me get my pinny out 🙂
Oh I love them too…but with a hint of sweetness when they’re cooked!
It looks amazing!! ❤
Thank you 🙂
As soon as I read….make a pot of coffee, cut yourself a good slice of cake, put your feet up and relax…I wanted to make this right now…even though I’m sitting at work! The title of this just sounds to like Christmas also. I have to try this out for the holidays…as serve it just as you wrote 🙂
H Linda – hope the day at work passes quickly!
I love fresh cranberries…especially paired with orange in cakes, liqueur and muffins, and this cake looks delicious! I have two bags of fresh cranberries in fridge awaiting a moment when I can actually take the time to bake again. 🙂
Hope you find some baking time soon!
Looks delicious and easy….
(Maybe you have already tried rice-oil: I find it perfect for my cakes , since I ‘m allergic to lactose and can’t use any butter….Sometimes, olive oil leaves that special flavour that I adore in salads….)
Thanks a lot for your fabulous recipes!
Have never tried or heard of rice oil – will look out for it!
much sugar will definitely sweeter, ..hehe
I reckon I can veganise this and make it bullet proof ;). Sometimes, especially at this time of year that brings out the best and the worst in folks, a nice big chunk of hearty cake is just what the narf ordered. Doctors aren’t allowed to order cake any more thanks to political correctness but I am not, and have never claimed to be a doctor so knock yourselves out folks! Whatever saves the day is my motto and psychiatrists cost a LOT more! 😉
Yes, it’s not quite vegan – what would you substitute for eggs and yogurt? When Big Man was in hospital recently, I was surprised that he did get cake (and custard) for dessert…it perked him up no end!
There is cake (Stevie-boys mental image loaded with cream and jam) and there is “cake” (healthy and loaded with fruit and nuts). It’s all how you play the game ;). There are lots of subs for eggs including using besan (chickpea) flour which also gives that lovely yellow colour that eggs give to a recipe and yoghurt is easy peasy. I just culture some of my non dairy homemade sesame milk with a bit of booch and voila, instant “yoghurt” (well curdled milk but whatchagonnadoeh? Does the same job 😉 )
You are the Heston Blumenthal of the Vegan Kitchen!
Cept I have a LOT more hair and a LOT less money 😉
Hair is preferable to money 😉
I agree, however Mr B might not agree with us 😉
😉
This looks so delicious. I love that you used cranberries in it. This looks so moist and not too difficult to execute. Perfect for dessert or breakfast with some coffee or tea!
It was good for breakfast as well as afternoon tea – I can vouch for it!
Dang, you’ve made me hungry *again*! Mmmm… I love cranberries and this sounds just dandy!
Dandy! Dandy is good J
I love your descriptions Chica 😄. I might give this a go with craisins. These are what we call dried cranberries. I use them a lot and they feature heavily in my gluten free Christmas cake too.
Ooh we have the dried ones too – love the name craisins!
I can’t remember ever seeing fresh cranberries for sale in our supermarkets, so I might try black currants and see how that goes.
I’m a real fan of simple easy to make cakes.
I guess I took for granted that fresh cranberries are widely available. Love blackcurrants but you don’t see them much anymore – my great grandmother (who I remember well – she was married to an Erskine descendant!) had bushes of them!
Hee hee – ” hardiest Marine in the Cake Corps” . Sounds like my kinda cake. Would love to share a slice with you over a cuppa.
Have a wonderful week ahead Tanya.
🙂 Mandy xoxoxo
J Thanks Mandy!
This sounds good, I love cranberries… a nice balance to something sweet.
Glad you like it!
Your cake looks and sounds so easy and delicious Tanya! Cranberries only seem to be dried (or frozen in massive big bags from Costco) here in Australia… perhaps I’ll go the big bag and make up some jars of cranberry sauce with the leftovers! Love a no-fail recipe! Your method mentions sugar… but I can’t see a quantity for it in the ingredient list? Cheers, Margot
Ooh thanks for pointing out the omission – it’s ¾ cup of sugar, have amended! I make a lovely cranberry sauce with red onions, port and orange zest, your comment reminded me it’s time to make some J
I will keep this close to hand for December as we are having rolling blackouts which could spell disaster for baking 🙂
Oh dear – sounds like Spain Up the Mountain L
Mmmhh, I usually hate fruit cake but this looks soooooooo yummy!
I’m with Big Man on cranberry sauce…but! cranberries in cakes and cookies…I’m totally on board with that. Adding this recipe to the “must bake” list!
I lurve cranberry sauce – Big Man also thinks Apple Sauce with meat is weird, but that’s a Spaniard for you 😉
Perfect!
oh… this cake made my stomach growl…
Have a wonderful week ahead! 🙂
Finally a cake destined for my kitchen! It could mark the start of my career as a baker. That may be pushing it but I can see myself mixing one and putting it in the oven before starting your mustard chicken in the slow cooker. That afternoon will be spent nibbling on cake while I wait for the chicken to finish. Some wine may find its way into a glass if, for no other reason, than to toast Bexhill’s very own Chica. 🙂
I think you should start with the wine – no need to rush into any dangerous baking – and then take it from there 😉
Perfect! The taste is very good and beautiful looks
If your little cake went through all that and turned out good…it should be at the top of our cake repertoire.
seems pretty tasty at all, what is the name of the food?,….
i like it
Every time I see food that are here, make my stomach is always hungry, hehe
J
yum! it looks delicious too:))
Mrs. Chica besides cook clever, clever Apparently also make cakes. Especially made cake donuts, cool …. 🙂
I don’t make cakes often, but we do enjoy them!
it’s good for birthday too. adding some starwberry cream it will tottally beautiful
Great idea!
I see , it looks savory cake 🙂
yummy and tasty.. love it….
wow looks so yummy …