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Spiced Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake

This simple recipe is great to have with breakfast in fall. It’s balanced with bright orange flavors, swirled with different spices. The tart cranberries serve as a contrast to the buttery and sweet four ingredient crumble on top. Even with three delicious layers, this is a surprisingly simple recipe, which is perfect with all of the chaos of the fast approaching Thanksgiving week.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 8 People
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cake Layer
  • 1½ cups all purpose flour
  • ¾ cups light or dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • A pinch of cloves
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 stick salted butter melted and slightly cooled
  • ⅔ cup whole milk at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • zest of one orange
Cranberry Layer
  • 1½ cups Fresh Cranberries (not frozen)*
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar plus more for optional sprinkle
Crumble Layer
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 Tablespoons salted butter softened to room temperature

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a nine inch springform cake pan with butter. Set aside.
Make the cake
  1. In a large bowl whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt together. Add the melted butter, milk, eggs, vanilla, orange juice, and orange zest. Whisk until combined and there are no more lumps. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.
Make the cranberries
  1. Rinse out the same bowl you just used for the batter. To that bowl, add the cranberries, orange zest, and sugar. Toss to combine. Put the cranberries on top of the cake batter. Sprinkle with a little bit of granulated sugar if desired.
Make the crumble
  1. Whisk the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Add the butter, and using your hands, massage the butter into the other ingredients, until the mixture forms lumps and is evenly combined. You can use a spatula to do this but I find that hands work best. Sprinkle the crumble on top of the cranberries.
  2. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The crumble will be slightly browned on top.
  3. Let the finished cake cool for at least 20 minutes. I recommend eating this warm, but it is just as good cold. See notes for reheating instructions. Cake stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Notes

*Fresh Cranberries: We need to use fresh not frozen cranberries for this recipe. I have tried it with frozen, and even once fully thawed they contained too much extra water and the cake was very soggy and dense. 
*Reheating Instructions: This cake is best when warm. For reheating it I leave it in the oven at 200 Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve  once cool enough to handle.