Cranberry Bundt Cake

It is officially cranberry season in the States! I feel bad for my American friends that live in Italy during this time of year because they usually have no luck in encountering fresh cranberries. I have had many a conversation with them wistfully saying, “What I would pay for a bag of fresh cranberries!”.  Even my mother-in-law is fascinated by them!

When we were in Italy this summer, Teresa  was showing off the dried cranberries that this lady was selling at her little health product kiosk this summer at the mall. She said, “Hai visto! C’e tutto in Italia! Anche i cranberries!”. So, that means, “You see. Italy has everything! Even cranberries!” She was pretty proud at that moment, because I was sure I would never encounter any sort of cranberries in Italy. Just in case you were wondering, in Italy they’re called Mirtilli Americano (American Blueberries). And, by the way, that cute little bag of dried cranberries they were selling at the Italian mall cost 10 Euros (which is about 11 dollars). Even though I had been in Italy already a month and wouldn’t have minded a bite of one of my favorite healthy snacks, I would not spend that much on that little bag!

So back to the Bundt pan discussion! I suppose it’s considered my lucky Bundt pan, because I have never had an issue with a cake sticking to it! I haven’t had any major Bundt catastrophes, but little pieces that get caught in a nook. It’s usually happened when I’ve baked with fruit, like an apple Bundt cake. It oozes and sticks to the side and I have to carefully scrape out an apple and piece it back into the cake.

Are you hesitant to bake a Bundt because it usually sticks to the grooves of the pan? I have read quite a few baking horror stories in baking groups where the baker has said her cake stuck to the sides of the Bundt pan. I know bakers that gave up on their pans because they flopped too many times.

I have not noticed any difference in the volume in my cakes when I used baking spray, that is just my personal experience. I have also read a baker say in a message group that the spray cakes onto the pan and that could also cause your Bundt to stick. I’ve personally never had that baking issue. I wash my pan really well after I bake with it.  I scrub around the nooks and crannies (I know, it’s annoying to clean a Bundt pan!)I know how you feel!

Our preferred method is completely coat a nonstick Bundt pan baking spray, and we mean one that has oil and flour.  In case you don’t have any baking spray, you could create a similar coating by just melting some butter. You make a paste with butter and some flour and simply use a pastry brush to coat every crevice and angle of the pan. Simply melt together one tablespoon of butter and combine with one tablespoon flour.

No more holding your breath when you flip your pan to see if the cake is sticking or not…I promise!

What do I love about this cake? I love the tartness of the cranberries and the tender moistness of the cake! It’s such a wonderful cake recipe that is moist from the Greek yogurt. It’s not heavy from being filled with butter (not that there’s any thing wrong with butter!). The cranberries give the perfect tart contrast to the cake. If you live somewhere where you can’t find cranberries, you could sub a different filling (strawberries or blueberries would be perfect!). The only problem with this cranberry Bundt cake, according to my daughter, was that it needed more cranberries in the middle! When I added the first layer of cake batter, I started to spoon on the cranberries and I really wanted to make sure it didn’t ooze into the sides of the pan as it was baking so there wouldn’t be any sticky fruit that would stop the cake from popping out easily.

The perfect cake for the holidays that travels well and will also be enough for the biggest family get together! You could add a sugar glaze to make this fancier and impressive!