Cranberry Christmas Cake is incredibly simple to make and delicious. It has a nice balance of sweetness with a slight hint of tanginess. It feeds 16 which means it’s perfect for a holiday party.
Fresh cranberries are plump, deep red, tart, and in season during the holidays. This cake is a wonderful way to enjoy the fruit while it’s fresh. By the way, if you love fruit you should give our Instant Pot Strawberry Jam or Baked Strawberry Donuts a try!
Cranberry Christmas Cake
One of the things I love about this cake is that it is garnished with powdered sugar rather than covered in frosting.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big, big fan of frosting. You might even say I’m addicted.
But sometimes during the holidays, it can all get to be a bit too much. You know what I mean?
Between the fudge and the pies and the cakes, even I can start to feel like I want something that’s not as overpoweringly sweet.
If you have people in your world who aren’t into all the sugary confections, this cake could make a great treat for them.
The Eggs and Sugar Peaks
For this recipe, you’ll be mixing the eggs and sugar to make a soft peak. They’re the magic that’s responsible for making the cake rise beautifully.
If you’re a seasoned baker, you know all about “peaks.” I’m sure you could probably teach me a thing or two!
If you’re new to this, it’s super easy.
(A quick and easy tip to know whether an egg is fresh is to put it in a bowl of cold water. If the egg sinks to the bottom and then lays over on its side, it’s fresh.)
To make the soft peak for our Cranberry Christmas Cake, beat the eggs and sugar until you can lift the beaters out of the mixture and see a little peak on the end.
Don’t overbeat the ingredients. You don’t want a hard peak – which means the sugar and butter stand straight up and are quite thick.
Softening the Butter
If you’re anything like me, you sometimes forget to take the butter out of the fridge before baking.
You definitely can’t make this Christmas Cranberry Cake recipe with hard, cold butter.
You can soften the butter in the microwave, but you need to be careful that you don’t completely melt it.
The thing I hate about that method is that I wind up with a butter splattered microwave and I always, always, always melt it rather than soften it.
Melted butter will ruin all the work you did making sure you got a nice, soft peak with your eggs and sugar.
Instead, cut your butter into chunks and put it on a plate or saucer. Turn the faucet on hot and fill a glass.
Let the water sit in the glass until it feels warm to the touch.
Turn the glass upside down and cover the butter. Let it sit until the butter softens. It only takes a couple of minutes.
Cool, right?
It’ll make all the difference when you’re making this Christmas Cranberry Cake, and keep things moist and sumptuous!
Cranberry Christmas Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 2 C sugar
- 3/4 C unsalted butter softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 C all-purpose flour
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- Powdered sugar for garnish
Instructions
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prep an 9 x13 pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer until slightly thickened and light in color.
- This mixture should form peaks when you lift the beaters out of the bowl.
- Add the butter, almond and vanilla extract to the egg mixture and continue to mix.
- Mix for two minutes.
- Slowly add in the flour but just until combined.
- Add the fresh cranberries.
- Stir the cranberries to mix throughout.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting into slices.
- Garnish with powder sugar.
- Makes 16 servings.
Last Step:
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222 comments on “Cranberry Christmas Cake”
Hi, I haven’t made this cake yet! Are the cranberries whole or chopped?
Hi Chris. You can do either depending on your preference or size of the cranberries.
Can you make this gluten fre
Hi Christine. Yes, others have used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking blend with good results.
Hi , Jill, I was wondering if the left over cake can be frozen? I am planning to make this for a few friends and I don’t think we will eat it all (but we might)
Hi Cyndi. Hopefully it will all be eaten 🙂 but yes, it can be frozen. Put it in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap and the foil.
This cake is so delicious and perfect
for the holidays! I’ve made it many times and everyone loves it!
Thanks Kris!
Just made this and love it! Very surprised how light the cake turned out considering how dense the batter was. Is it supposed to be more dense after baking? It tastes fabulous so I am good either way.
Thanks Lisa! Yes, the batter is dense. The cake doesn’t rise as much as other cakes but still has a light texture.
Just pulled it from the oven, didn’t rise much, doesn’t look like the picture
Hopefully it still will taste OK.
Made is cake and it was a hit! I added toasted almond slices whilst baking it. Nice added crunch!
Sounds great JoAnn, Thanks!
Hi Jill. I am about to make this delicious and festive looking dessert for several neighbors. I would like to make it in a 9” round cake pan. Do you have any suggestions for me as far as temperature and time or changing any amounts? I’m going to give it to each neighbor on a porcelain Christmas plate and that’s why I need to change the size. I plan to make 9.
Hi Dayna. You sound like a great neighbor! I don’t think I would recommend any changes. Although I’ve never divided, the recipe should yield enough for two 9″ round pans but the cakes might not be as thick as they would in the 9×13. I think I would try the recipe as is the first time and then 2x or 3x for the next ones and adjust the amounts in the pans from there. I would just make sure to keep an eye on the baking time as that may vary slightly.
I would like to try this can you give me measurements in grams please
Hi Maura. Main ingredients as follows: 340g cranberries, 250g flour, 400g sugar, 170g butter and 4.34g each of the extracts.
I served this to my quilting group. They loved it and wanted copies!
Glad to hear this Harriet. Thank you!
Can you use dried cranberries in this recipe?
Hi Carol. You can use dried, however they won’t produce the exact same results. If using dried you may want to hydrate with hot water for 20 minutes and then strain before using.
I have this in the oven now for a work Christmas party tomorrow. Is the batter supposed to be super thick? It’s more like cookie dough for me…??? Hope I didn’t mess it up!
Hi Nickie. Yes the batter will be slightly thicker than a normal cake batter.
Awesome. So many people requesting the recipe after tasting it. Perfect Holiday dessert.
Thanks Linda!
Has anyone made this into cupcakes?
If so, how do you adjust the recipe?
Yes, I’ve made quite a few recipes and put them in muffin pans, just check the cupcakes at about 15 minutes. I’m going to be doing the same thing.
Anyone made these in 3x 6 loaf pans planning to make them for neighbors
I currently have a big bag of frozen cranberries, can I use them? And what adjustments would I have to make?
Hi Jenn. You can use the frozen cranberries with no adjustments. You can either thaw them or add them to the batter frozen.
I have been doing this recipe for years on winter holidays and it’s one of my family’s deserts. Thank you, great recipe!
Thanks Alla!
I loved this recipe! Even though I baked it a little too long, it was still delicious. The top was not browning so I left it in for 50 minutes. Next time, I will use parchment paper as they were a little difficult to get out and if it isn’t brown to my liking, the powdered sugar will take care of that. Many compliments at our Thanksgiving dinner. Heard it was good for breakfast too with coffee. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Joan! So glad everyone liked it.
I love this recipe! It has quickly grown to be a family favorite.
I’ve made this cake the past 2 Christmases and we’ve loved it. How does this recipe work in a Bundt pan?
Thanks Viki. Yes, this recipe does well in a Bundt pan also.
Are you able to make this into a layer cake?
I haven’t tried that with this recipe, however I wouldn’t recommend it due to the style and density of the cake.