Christmas Cranberry Pound Cake is a delicious vanilla pound cake recipe full of fresh cranberries and topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. It’s a terrific Christmas dessert but is yummy all year long.
Do you like cranberries? I love them! They are always my favorite part of Thanksgiving. We even make Turkey Cranberry Sliders the next day with our leftovers. (If you’ve never tried it, you should!) Everyone loves this pound cake, whether you are a cranberry fan or not. It’s so good! This is a different version of our very popular Christmas Cranberry Cake – it’s a sheet cake, but also so delicious!
Christmas Cranberry Pound Cake
Pound cakes always make me think of my Grandma. She always makes the best ones and knows to have one ready when I come over. Food can be so nostalgic and special.
For this pound cake, we filled it with cranberries for a tart, sweet flavor. The cream cheese frosting is totally optional. Some folks like to enjoy this plain, for good reason, because it’s really tasty the classic way. You can make this either way!
Ingredients For The Cake
This is a classic recipe with pantry staples. With the exception of the cranberries, you probably have everything you need already at home.
- Unsalted Butter. If you only have salted butter, it’s ok, but it does affect the flavor a bit.
- Eggs.
- Sugar.
- Vanilla. As always, the real stuff is much better tasting than imitation.
- Baking Powder.
- All Purpose Flour. The type of flour in a recipe is always super important, make sure to use exactly what is listed.
- Cranberries. You can use canned or the frozen ones, thawed out.
Ingredients For Frosting
- Cream Cheese. Room temperature.
- Butter. Also room temperature.
- Vanilla.
- Sugar.
- Optional: White chocolate chips to use as a melted drizzle.
Making the frosting is super easy. You simply add the ingredients to a bowl and use an electric mixer to combine. Then, just frost like you normally would, just make sure your cake has cooled or it will just run right off.
How To Make a Cranberry Pound Cake
It takes less than five minutes to put this together. We could not make this easier if we tried. So, recipes like this one are great to have the kids help with. There is no messing it up!
- Cream the vanilla, butter and sugar together until it’s creamy.
- Mix in the eggs.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients: sugar and flour.
- Fold in the cranberries lastly.
- Spray your pan and bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes.
If you decide to frost it, you can melt some white chocolate chips and drizzle on top.
Can You Freeze Pound Cake With Cranberries
Yes, you can freeze this pound cake, BUT, do so before adding the icing. Wrap it in aluminum foil and make sure it’s sealed up tight and you can store it for up to two months.
When you’re ready to eat, let it thaw out at room temp. and then you can frost it.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Cranberry Bars with Crumble Topping
White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Cranberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup cranberries
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- 1- 8 oz package of cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Pound Cake Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar and vanilla, for about three minutes, until smooth and creamy.
- Mix in the eggs until smooth.
- Gradually add in flour and baking powder, until well mixed into the sugar mixture.
- Stir in the cranberries until they are well mixed into the batter.
- Pour batter into a lightly sprayed bread loaf pan, and bake for 55-60 minutes.
- Cake will be done when it springs to the touch or insert a toothpick into the center and it will come out clean.
- Let cool and frost if desired.
Icing Directions:
- Combine ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy.
- Optional: Top with ¼ cup dried cranberries and drizzle with ¼ cup melt white chocolate