Cranberry, Orange, Pecan White Cake

Another cranberry recipe for you lovely folks. I found this recipe for Cranberry Layer Cake on Pinterest, and while I loved the flavor ideas of the cake, I was not about to buy boxed mixes so I went in search of a solid white cake recipe that I could use for this and for any other needs. This search led me to this blog for White Cake Taste Test. I decided to go with the butter version, and oh my gosh, it was delicious. 

Adding the cranberries, orange and pecans from the original recipe makes for one mouth-watering cake. Slather it in cream cheese icing with orange zest and this cake becomes out of this world. The only other changes I made were making this cake three layers instead of two, which required more icing - definitely not a bad thing, right?

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature
2 tsps almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 tsps baking powder
1 tsp table salt
12 Tbsps unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I didn't toast mine)
1 Tbsp finely shredded orange peel

For icing

3/4 cup butter, softened (or 1 1/2 sticks)

12 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1.5-2 lbs confectioner sugar

1-2 tsp orange zest

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two (or three) 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. 

Either use a food process to lightly chop cranberries or use a knife. Unfortunately, my knife skills are not that good, so I went with the  food processor.

Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.

Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed.

Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining. 

Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes.

Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer. 

Add cranberries, orange zest and pecans and fold into batter.

Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops.

 

Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23-25 minutes (18-20 mins if you use three cake pans). Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes.

Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

To make the icing, cream together butter and cream cheese. Add extracts. Gradually blend in confectioner sugar until icing is creamy and the desired consistency. Add orange zest.

 

Frost each layer of the cake carefully, and then smooth frosting.

Enjoy this delicious creation!