Easy Cranberry Cake – Moist, dense with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness in every bite, is a perfect dessert for Christmas. It’s also seriously easy: one bowl, 10 minutes of mixing and just pop it in the oven.

Looking for a perfect, delicious,  and easy Christmas dessert recipe?

How to Make Easy Cranberry Cake

This Cranberry Cake is an easy-to-make, from-scratch cake that just takes a few basic ingredients, a 9 x 13 baking pan, and comes out perfectly tender every time!

• Eggs
• Sugar
• Unsalted butter
• Vanilla
• Salt
• Whole milk
• Flour
• Cranberries
• Powdered sugar or sparkling sugar for garnish

Tips for Success

• Coat your cranberries in flour before folding them into the cake batter.
• Don’t have fresh cranberries? You can use frozen cranberries!
• Don’t overmix. In order to keep the cake light and tender make sure to mix the cake batter until just combined.
• Stir in the cranberries by hand (using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon). This ensures that they don’t get broken up by the mixer.
• Don’t overbake. As you approach the end of bake time watch the cake closely, pull it out of the oven as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

CAN I USE FROZEN CRANBERRIES?

Yes! Cranberries are not generally available year-round, so I like to stock up on them at the store and keep them in the freezer throughout the season and into the next year. They will stay good for about 6 months in the freezer and work just as well as fresh cranberries when baking.

CAN I USE LESS SUGAR IN THIS CHRISTMAS CRANBERRY CAKE?

Not really. Cranberries are extremely tart in their natural flavor so they need a decent amount of sugar to keep the taste pleasant.  With that warning, if you would like to experiment with less sugar to get a more tart outcome you can, but I can not guarantee the outcome. If you do try it, let me know how it worked in the comments.

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Easy Cranberry Cake

Sarah Kozowski

Easy Cranberry Cake - Moist, dense with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness in every bite, is a perfect dessert for Christmas. It’s also seriously easy: one bowl, 10 minutes of mixing and just pop it in the oven.

4.50 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Christmas, Cranberry Cake, Easy Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16

Equipment

• 9 x 13 baking dish

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter slightly softened and cut into chunks
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp whole milk
• 2 cups flour more to toss the cranberries to cover them completely.
• 2 1/2 cups cranberries 12 ounce bag you can use frozen, but don't thaw.
• Powdered sugar or sparkling sugar for garnish

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9” x 13” baking pan. In a small bowl, toss cranberries with a handful of flour to cover them completely.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar for 5-7 minutes, until eggs have increased in volume and stream into ribbons when you lift the beaters.
• Add butter and vanilla and beat until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Beat in milk and salt. Stir in flour, then fold in cranberries. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes (begin checking at 40 minutes), or until a tester comes out clean (but there might be cranberry juices on it).
• Cool on a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting it into slices. Garnish with powdered sugar.

Notes

Try not to over bake the cake.
You may need to tent the cake with foil in the last 15 minutes or so to keep the top from browning.

Keyword Christmas, Cranberry Cake, Easy Breakfast, Thanksgiving

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