Swirled Orange Cheesecake Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

This post is being sponsored by Nordic Ware featuring their absolutely beautiful Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan.  With the holiday season in full swing right now I wanted to create a cake that not only was delicious but also regal in flavor and texture.  This Swirled Orange Cheesecake Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake most certainly fits the bill.

Even before you bite into it you’re hit with the hints of orange zest so fragrant and inviting.  The texture is simply sublime.  It’s creamy but in a cake-texture form.  It practically melts in your mouth until you’re hit with that fresh tart pop of the cranberries and that light hint of ginger on the back end.

Originally when I went to make this cake I was just going to go with an orange cranberry bundt cake with a simple glaze.  I’ve made that cake hundreds of times and it’s always a holiday favorite with my customers and family. Right before I was ready to put the batter into the Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan I got to thinking on how I could make this cake something more. Don’t get me wrong the batter without the orange cheesecake is amazing and is one of my favorites but with it being the holidays we try to make things more decadent, more refined more… fancy schmancy.

Desserts, while they are supposed to taste amazing, should also impress visually.  Thanks to the amazing design of the pan, that part was taken care of already for me. So I wanted to make a taste that matched the regal-ness of the pan. Yes I know “regal-ness” isn’t a real word but it’s my blog, my improper use of grammar and made up words. LOL  It’s funny as my one niece is a BRILLIANT writer and I can picture her face as she reads my blog shaking her head and questioning “Really Aunt Lori, you’re supposed to be a genius and you write like that?! Yeah, you sooooooooooo are not the writer.  Good thing you code and cook!”  LOL

So instead of just sticking with the cake batter I quickly whipped up a cheesecake batter that I wanted to swirl in.  I envisioned a cake, when cut, with swirls of cake and cheesecake.  Well that’s not exactly how this cake turned out and I’m THRILLED that it didn’t because the outcome far exceeded my expectations.  You see the cake batter is thick to the point it’s not exactly pourable but rather you would scoop it out.  What I did was pour the cheesecake batter into the cake mixture and gently mix enough to barely combine it.  It was a loose and almost ‘chunky’ batter.

I wasn’t exactly sure how it would bake up, or even if it would at all, but when I unmolded it from the Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan I was met with such a gorgeous cake whose smell was intoxicating.  You could smell the warm orange from the batter and the ginger and cinnamon from the cake. This cake smelled like Christmas.  As the cake was cooling I wanted to go with a white chocolate glaze but at the last minute I changed my mind, I went with a simple confectioners’ sugar and cream thick glaze.

To “pretty it up” I garnished it with some sugared cranberries and more orange zest.

As I was doing the photo shoot for this cake Mr. Fantabulous at the kitchen table “almost” patiently waiting.  I say almost as he sighed heavily.. MULTIPLE times. And the fact that he already had a fork, plate and hot cup of coffee waiting.  LOL  When I cut this cake I was met with such an awesome slice.  You could see the moistness of the crumb.  Just from looking at it you could tell it was going to be tender.  As we both took our first bite you’re met with such an unexpected texture that seriously is the best cake texture I have ever, EVER had. This cake is creamy in texture but in a cake form – you have to make it to truly understand.  It melts in your mouth like a cheesecake but maintains it in a cake crumb.

And don’t even get me started on the marriage of orange and cranberries.  Seriously this cake will now become a tradition in my house for every Christmas from here on end.  I took a few slices of this to our accountant and he went absolutely nuts over it though Mr. Fantabulous did make sure I packed him some too to snack on.

So this holiday season get your favorite Foodie this Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan and have them bake up this amazing Swirled Orange Cheesecake Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake!

Swirled Orange Cheesecake Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

• Author: The Kitchen Whisperer

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Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 sticks (16 Tbl) butter, unsalted and room temperature
• 2 Tbl orange juice
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbl orange zest
• 2 1/2 cups fresh, whole cranberries

Orange Cheesecake

• 16 ounces full fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 Tbl orange zest

Glaze

• 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3-4 Tbl heavy cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F, rack in the middle.
2. Grease and flour the Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the cream cheese and sugar. You can also use a hand held mixer.
4. Beat until cream cheese and sugar is combined and the mixture is creamy with no lumps.
5. Add in the eggs, vanilla and orange zest.
6. Mix until combined. Scrape the bottom and sides and mix again to incorporate the scrapings. Set aside.
7. In another bowl for the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add in the softened butter and sugar.
8. Cream for 5-7 minutes or until the mixture is a pale yellow.
9. With the mixer on low, add in the eggs one at a time until all incorporated.
10. Add in the orange juice and orange zest and mix.
11. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
12. With the mixer on low slowly add in the dry ingredients just until combined.
13. Turn the mixer off, scrape down the sides and mix again just until the scrapings on combined. Do not overmix!
14. Remove the bowl from the mixer, clean off the paddle and add in the cranberries.
15. Gently fold in the cranberries. The mixture will be thick.
16. Using a mixing spoon slowly add the cheesecake mixture to the cake batter and fold. You don’t want to mix together completely but just lightly blend together. The mixture will be thick and wet with some clumps of cake batter – this is OK.
17. Spoon the mixture into the Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan and fill to about 3/4 full. If you have extra, just place that into a greased and floured loaf pan. Do not overfill the bundt pan.
18. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a cake tester comes out almost clean (a few crumbs are OK).
19. Allow to cool on a baking rack for 10 minutes.
20. Place another cooling rack on top of the bundt cake, and carefully flip over so bottom of the bundt cake and pan are resting on the cooling rack.
21. Gently remove the pan and allow to cool completely before cutting or glazing.

Make the glaze

1. In a bowl whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 3 Tbl of the cream until desired consistency. I like my glaze thicker so I will use only 3 Tbl. For thinner glazes use 4.

Notes

I highly recommend the Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan as it’s gorgeous!

To add more orange flavor add a tsp of orange juice to the glaze mixture. Also add some orange zest on top.

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