This gorgeous vegan cranberry bundt cake will be the showstopper at your holiday table. The sweet, tender, moist crumb is studded with juicy-tart, jewel-red cranberries. The cake is topped with a simple, two-ingredient glaze.
Can't get enough of cranberry recipes? Here's a vegan cranberry upside-down cake, vegan cranberry breakfast bread and vegan cranberry custard tart for you!
Table of Contents
Before cranberries disappear from the market, pick some up to bake this gorgeous vegan cranberry bundt cake.
These days, when you can buy any fruit or vegetable any time of year, I cherish the handful of fruits and veggies that are still only to be found when they are truly in season, like cranberries. I grab these tart fall berries as soon as they start putting in an appearance in markets late October or early November. Then I dream of all the ways I will use them, in sweet and savory recipes like this cranberry soup, homemade cranberry sauce and vegan sourdough cranberry scones.
When I recently ran into a cranberry bundt recipe in the New York Times, I was smitten. I couldn't wait to make a vegan version, with some inspiration from my lemon yogurt bundt cake recipe (which is divine, by the way!)
I love everything about this cake: it has a deep, rich, golden color, a soft, tender, buttery crumb, and an exquisite pink glaze . But what bowls me over is the contrast between the sweet crumb and glaze and tart bursts of juicy cranberries. Heaven!
The recipe is simple and with the exception of the cranberries and, maybe the vegan yogurt, you can find everything you need in your pantry or fridge. Be sure to give it a try!
Cranberry cake ingredients
- All-purpose flour. This will give the cake its lovely, soft crumb.
- Leavening: Baking powder + baking soda. These leavening agents help the cake rise and give it that tender, airy crumb.
- Spices. Cranberry desserts can be spiced quite heavily, and for this cake I chose a mix of ground cloves, cardamom and ginger.
- Vegan butter. I use my homemade vegan butter recipe, which has delicious, buttery flavor. Use any vegan butter sticks of your choice. You will need to melt the butter before you use it.
- Sugar. Use any granulated sugar of your choice. A darker colored sugar, like turbinado or coconut sugar, will deepen the color of the crumb.
- Applesauce. Applesauce helps reduce the need for more butter or oil in the recipe and also keeps the crumb soft and moist.
- Pure vanilla extract. This nicely complements the tart cranberries.
- Vegan yogurt. My homemade vegan yogurt recipe is made with cashews. If nut-free, use an unsweetened, nut-free vegan yogurt of your choice.
- Cranberries. Rinse and dry the cranberries before using, and pick over for any that are spoilt or shriveled.
For Glaze
- Powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
- Cranberry juice or pomegranate juice. This will add the pretty pink color to the glaze.
How to make vegan cranberry yogurt bundt cake
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cardamom, ground cloves and ground ginger in bowl until well-mixed.
Place orange zest in another bowl and rub it into the sugar with your fingers to release the aroma.
Add the melted butter and use an electric hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, about a minute. You can also do this in the stand mixer.
Stir in the applesauce and vanilla...
...followed by the vegan yogurt.
Use the electric mixer to mix and air the ingredients, about two minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through to make sure everything is well-integrated.
Add the sugar-butter mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients, using a folding motion, until the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated and there is no visible flour in the bowl.
Stir in the cranberries until they are mixed evenly through the batter.
Oil and flour a large bundt cake pan. Scrape the cake batter into the pan and use the spatula to smooth the top.
Bake in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit/180-degree Celsius oven for 60 minutes or until a toothpick near the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes on a cooling rack, then unmold it on the rack and continue cooling.
While the cake is cooling, place the glaze ingredients -- cranberry or pomegranate juice, powdered sugar, and oat milk -- in a small bowl or cup.
Use a whisk to mix into a glaze. It should be runny enough so you can pour it on the cake. Add more milk or juice if the glaze is too stiff. Once the cake has cooled thoroughly, place the rack with the cake over a plate and pour the glaze over it.
My top tips
- Don't overmix the batter after adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to fold the wet ingredients into the dry and stop once there is no visible flour in the bowl.
- The cake batter is quite thick, scoopable rather than pourable. The cranberries will express some juices as they bake. Don't be tempted to add more liquid.
- Make the glaze after the cake cools and then pour it over the cake immediately. The glaze will harden as it stands.
- I make just enough glaze to coat the top of the bundt cake. If you would like more glaze on the cake, double the glaze recipe.
Recipe FAQs
You can make the cake with whole-wheat pastry flour. The crumb would be darker, but the cake should be moist and delicious. Or use a half-and-half mix of regular whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, which will result in a cake with a denser crumb.
Yes, add the frozen cranberries to the batter without thawing them first.
I haven't made this cake with gluten-free flour so I can't say for sure, but you can try it with a one-to-one swap of all-purpose gluten-free flour.
You can chop the cranberries or leave them whole. An advantage of chopping the cranberries is that they will disperse more evenly through the batter. I left them whole this time but I think I will chop them the next time I make this cake.
Store the cake, covered, in the fridge for up to a week. Freeze individual slices, tightly wrapped in two layers of freezer paper or in a freezer-safe container. You can also freeze the whole cake after baking and cooling - make sure to wrap it in two layers of freezer-safe paper.
Recipe card
Vegan Cranberry Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Wet ingredients
- 1½ cups sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- ¾ cup vegan butter (melted)
- ½ cup applesauce
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup vegan yogurt
- 12 oz cranberries (chopped roughly)
For the pink glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons cranberry juice or pomegranate juice
- 1 tablespoon oat milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350-degree Fahrenheit/180-degree Celsius. Oil and flour a 9-inch (or 10-cup) bundt cake pan.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cardamom, ground cloves and ground ginger in bowl until well-mixed.
- Place orange zest in another bowl and rub it into the sugar with your fingers to release the aroma.
- Add the melted butter and use an electric hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, about a minute. You can also do this in the stand mixer.
- Stir in the applesauce and vanilla followed by the vegan yogurt.
- Use the electric mixer to mix the ingredients, about two minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through to make sure everything is well-integrated.
- Add the sugar-butter mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients, using a folding motion, until the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated and there is no visible flour in the bowl.
- Stir in the cranberries until they are mixed evenly through the batter.
- Scrape the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and use the spatula to smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes or until a toothpick near the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes on a cooling rack, then unmold it on the rack and continue cooling.
Prepare the pink glaze
- Mix the sugar, juice and milk in a cup or bowl until the glaze is smooth and just slightly runny. Add a little more milk or juice if necessary. Pour the glaze over the cake after it has cooled completely.
Nutrition Information
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Joni Carmack says
Delicious cake, somewhat dense- very flavorful!!!!
Stacey Knecht says
Delicious! But unfortunately, half of it stuck to the tube pan when I tried to get it out... (I oiled and floured as you suggest, which I've never actually done before -- I usually use vegan butter and flour).
Vaishali says
Hi Stacey, happy you liked the cake. The tube pan or bundt pan you use does make a difference. I've had some in the past that everything would stick to, and others that unmold so easily. The quantity of butter in this recipe is enough that it shouldn't cause the cake to stick. You can use vegan butter and flour to prep the pan but I don't think that would make a big difference. One thought is to make sure the heating in the oven is even, it could be that one side is overheating. Also be sure to unmold the cake after the suggested time, because the sugars in the cranberry can cause them to stick to the pan as they cool down.