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I make this cranberry cake for the crackly top as much as the cranberries. The crumb is golden and buttery, with little pops of tart cranberry all through it. People enjoy it with coffee at brunch as much as they do after dinner.
Fresh cranberries hit the stores right before Thanksgiving, and this is the cake I make with them. I have baked it enough times now to know it comes out the same every time, which is what I want when people are coming over.
Cranberry cake has a reputation for being tricky, and I do not think it has to be. Mine bakes up light rather than dense, with whole cranberries in every square. Two things do that, a thick batter and a tablespoon of flour tossed with the cranberries before they go in.
I buy cranberries by the bag while they are in the store, and the rest of them go into my sugared cranberries recipe. Once they are gone for the year, my 7 Up pound cake is the one I bake in its place.
HOLIDAY FAVORITE
Why I Leave This Cake Sitting Out on the Counter
The top of this cake bakes into a thin crackly layer, and it is the first thing you lose if you put the cake away wrong. Seal it in an airtight container or slide it into the refrigerator and that top goes soft on you. I keep mine on the counter under a loose sheet of foil and the top stays crisp.
The Ingredients Worth Getting Right
- Fresh cranberries: Whole, raw, straight from the bag. They go in uncooked and uncut, so what you get is a firm berry that pops when you bite it.
- Eggs: Use standard grocery store eggs here. Free range yolks run much darker and they will tint the batter, so the cake bakes up deeper than the pale gold you want under the red of the cranberries.
- Butter: It needs to be very soft, almost creamy, so a finger presses in without any resistance and without it going melty. Butter that is still cool will not work smoothly into the whipped eggs, and you will see it in the finished crumb.
- Almond extract: Use it alongside the vanilla, not instead of it. I like what the two do together. The almond adds a different kind of rich flavor without the cake tasting almondy.
How to Make Cranberry Cake
Step 1: Beat the Eggs Heat the oven and butter the baking dish. Beat the eggs and granulated sugar with a hand mixer on medium high for a full 6 to 7 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and almost doubled in volume.
Step 2: Build the Batter Beat in the very soft butter, the milk, and both extracts until the batter is smooth. Drop the mixer to low, add the flour and salt, and stop as soon as it comes together. The batter will be thick.
Step 3: Flour the Cranberries Toss the cranberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour in a separate bowl until they are lightly coated. The flour gives them something to grip and the thick batter holds them where they land, so they do not sink to the bottom.
Step 4: Fold and Spread Fold them in by hand with a rubber spatula, then spread the batter into an even layer in the dish.
Step 4: Bake and Cool Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. If it starts browning too fast, tent it loosely with foil for the last 10 to 15 minutes. Let it cool completely before you cut it.
How Long Cranberry Cake Keeps
- Covered loosely with foil on the counter, this cake is good for up to 3 days.
- To freeze it, wrap it in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil, and it keeps for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
Three days on the counter means I can bake it ahead of the day I need it, which is one reason it turns up whenever I am putting together easy Christmas desserts.
More Cranberry Recipes
Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter very soft (almost creamy) room temperature, plus additional to grease the baking dish
- ¼ cup whole milk room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour for the batter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour to toss the cranberries to prevent sinking
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces fresh whole cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9×13 glass baking dish and set aside.
- Using a handheld mixer, on medium-high speed, beat the eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl for 6-7 minutes until thick, pale yellow, and almost doubled in volume.3 large eggs, 2¼ cups granulated sugar
- Add the butter, milk, vanilla, and almond extract to the whipped eggs. Beat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until fully combined and smooth.¾ cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup whole milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon almond extract
- With the mixer on low, slowly add 2 ½ cups flour and salt to the egg mixture and mix just until combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick.2½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a separate bowl, toss the cranberries with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour until lightly coated.1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, 12 ounces fresh whole cranberries
- Fold the flour coated cranberries into the batter. Spread the cranberry cake batter into an even layer in the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. You can lightly tent the dish with foil the last 10-15 minutes of bake time if browning too fast.
- Allow to cool completely at room temperature before slicing and serving.
Jenn’s Notes
- Beat the eggs and sugar the full 6 to 7 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and almost doubled in volume. There is no baking powder or baking soda in this cake, so that air is what makes it rise.
- Once the flour goes in, keep the mixer on low and stop as soon as it comes together. The batter is supposed to be thick.
- Toss the cranberries in the tablespoon of flour before you fold them in so they do not sink. If you rinse them first, dry them very well with a paper towel.
- Frozen cranberries work. Pat them very dry and add them still frozen. Thawed berries release juice and streak the batter.
