I made this cranberry cake three times over Thanksgiving week because I just can't get enough of it. It's sweet with a golden crumb, soft and moist, and dense without being heavy, with juicy explosions of tart cranberries.
This is also really easy; it comes together in about 10 minutes. I often cover it in kirsch-flavored whipped cream, but lately I have been baking it instead with a topping of pecans caramelized in butter and brown sugar. The nuts make this rather fruitcake-like - a fruitcake for non-fruitcake eaters.
Cranberry Cake
makes 1 9x13 or 1 10" springform cake
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 tablespoon kirsch (optional)
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups cranberries (1 bag)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan or a 10" springform pan.
Beat eggs and sugar together for 5-7 minutes; the eggs will increase in volume quite a bit, streaming into ribbons when you lift the beaters. They will also turn pale yellow. Add butter and flavorings and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in flour and fold in cranberries. Pour into greased pan.
Bake 45-50 minutes for a 9x13, or a little over an hour for the springform. You made need to tent the cake with foil in the last 15 minutes or so to keep the top from browning.
Cool completely before serving.
Optional pecan topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans, toasted
Heat the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the sugar and stir. Add the toasted pecans and cook for several minutes, stirring, until the butter and sugar mixture is shiny and smooth and the nuts smell toasted. Spread over the cake batter and bake as above.
Related: Recipe: Sticky Spiked Double-Apple Cake with a Brown Sugar-Brandy Sauce
This looks delicious. I'm thinking of making it in individualized portions--maybe in cupcake sizes--to give away to coworkers at the end of the week for Christmas. Any suggestions for how long to bake or other recipe modifications?
Love Gretchen's idea, especially since I found Reynolds makes star-shaped aluminum mini pans (Safeway, 1.78 per box). Instant gift! This seems like the perfect recipe for them. Thanks!
I think if you try baking individual cakes for about 20 minutes, then test and go from there they should be fine. A skewer won't ever come out completely clean - this is a really moist cake! Just make sure there are crumbs in the center and not goo.
I don't think you should have to make any other adjustments.
I'm so glad I saw this post and comments! Love the little star shaped pans; didn't even know they existed and found them at Safeway this week. Going to try the cranberry cake today, I hope; it looks very yummy.
This looks amazing. If I leave out the brandy, should I substitute another flavoring like vanilla, or no?
I made this last night--it's delicious! The entire house smelled good. I made the brown sugar topping, but I bet the kirsch whipped cream is to die for! Thank you for this recipe.
I am so disappointed with this cake !! I decided to make it because all of the comments were so positive and it came out as flat as a pancake...I bake for a living so followed the recipe very carefully and I'm wondering if there is something missing in the recipe like baking powder or some such thing ?
I would really appreciate heraing from someone about this cake. Thank you in advance, Bernice .
view wedplan's profile
Hi Bernice - there's definitely nothing missing; I wondered the same thing when I first tried the cake. No leavening! All the leavening action comes from the eggs. They should be beaten until much increased in volume; they'll "ribbon" as the recipe says. Lift up the beaters and see if the egg and sugar mixture creates thick ribbons in the batter as it falls down.
It's a little hard to explain, but suffice to say that the eggs and sugar will increase in volume and become very pale yellow.
view faith's profile
This recipe is awesome! I made it last last night and on a whim served it with some bourbon whipped cream. I'm not ashamed to say that I also ate some today...twice. (:
view shinylib's profile
I made this cake for my coworkers and have been getting rave reviews! (Unfortunately, because I gave them as gifts, I couldn't TASTE them, so I still haven't tried it myself.) One recipe of cake batter makes two 8x4 loaf pans.
A couple of notes:
- the loaves have required way more than 45-50 minutes - probably as much as 1 hr, 15 minutes
- the first batch, I used the pecan/brown sugar/butter topping, but I thought I might've burned it in the pot (once the brown sugar stopped looking gritty, it separated from the butter) - plus, baking it so long, I had to tent it to stop the pecans from burning
- as a result, I adapted a crumb topping that is turning out well (though is very approximate in measurements):
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
a bunch of cinnamon
approx. 1/2 cup pecans, chopped finely
Stir together until mixture resembles coarse sand, then sprinkle on top of cake batter.
Can't wait to taste it eventually! What an easy, seasonal recipe!
view jamimess's profile
i used toasted oats instead of the toasted pecans - which i put at the bottom of my springform-bundt-cake pan before baking. after about 1 hour, 20 minutes it turned out perfect. this cake is delicious and the colors are beautiful!
view helloear's profile
I tried this today and just loved it. It turned out awesome and I think the cranberries can be replaced with other types of fruit or left out altogether for just a yummy yellowish cake. Delicious!
view geek details's profile
Oh sweet jesus this is good. I did a little of my own tweaks. First, I threw in a pinch of salt with the flour. second, instead of almond extract I threw in some orange zest. I highly recommend doing this. I baked it with the pecans on top (again with a pinch of salt). YUMMMM
view LaLisa's profile