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This Cranberry Christmas Cake recipe makes tender Bundt Cake full of fresh cranberries and a swirl cranberry sauce that’s simply divine.
Add this to your table with Easy Christmas Punch for a beautiful Christmas display!
I call this Christmas Cake because as it bakes, it fills the house with the warm aromas of Christmas. You can smell the buttery cake mixed with cranberries and spicy orange. It’s just the perfect festive treat!
The best part of this recipe is how simple it is to make. Let’s face it, when it comes to holiday baking, we can all use a simple and scrumptious recipe to add to the menu!
Why This Recipe Works
- The brown sugar adds a caramel richness without being overly sweet.
- Buttermilk adds a tasty tang as well as extra moisture.
- The fresh cranberries and orange zest add a festive taste that’s simply delicious.
Buying cranberries
Fresh cranberries are available in stores from October through December. Here are some handy hints on what to look for when shopping:
- Choose firm, plump berries.
- Look for unblemished berries that are light to dark red in color.
- Avoid bags with soft or shriveled berries.
- Be sure to check for mold in the package.
How To Bake With Cranberries
Fresh cranberries can be added to cakes and baked goods, raw and whole. Unlike other berries, their firm skin makes them perfect for baking as they don’t release too much moisture.
Alternatively, you can use thawed frozen cranberries or dried cranberries that have been soaked for 10 to 15 minutes in hot water and then strained. Soaking will help them become plumper, juicier, and softer.
What Cranberry Sauce is best
For the cranberry swirl in this cake, I used jarred, whole berry cranberry sauce (not canned), cranberry jam, or relish.
How To Make Cranberry Christmas Cake
Cream butter, brown sugar, and Granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, orange juice, and zest.
If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk (half and half or skim milk work well too).
For this recipe: 3/4 cup milk + 2 1/4 teaspoons vinegar
Mix until combined, and add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine and add the cranberries.
Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan and spoon the cranberry sauce evenly over the batter.
then top with the remaining batter and bake for 60 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
For The Glaze, sift the sugar into a large mixing bowl to avoid lumps.
add the melted butter, vanilla, and 4 tablespoons of milk. Mix well and add more milk as needed for the desired consistency.
Drizzle over the cooled cake.
Serve and enjoy!
More Great Cranberry Recipes
Erren’s Top Tips
- Don’t have fresh cranberries? Use thawed frozen cranberries (that have been strained) or dried cranberries that have been soaked for 10 to 15 minutes in hot water, and then strained. Soaking will help them become plumper, juicier, and softer.
- Prepare the Pan – Be sure to grease and flour all the crevices in the pan with shortening so the cake will release easily and the design is defined.
- Use Good Quality Ingredients. Cheaper brands of flour use harder wheat, making the cake heavy. Off brands of sugar are often more ground than quality brands, yielding more sugar per cup, which can cause your bake to fall. Cheaper butter brands can contain more liquid fat which also affects a bake.
- Beat softened butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. This step is important because it whips air into the cake batter so rises during baking.
- To prevent the batter from curdling, alternate wet and dry ingredients with the liquid, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix just until blended after each addition; overmixing at this point can create a tough, rubbery cake.
Rate This Recipe
Recipe
Cranberry Christmas Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups Brown Sugar (packed)
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cups butter softened
- 5 Eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ cup orange juice (fresh squeezed)
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- ¾ cup buttermilk ( at room temperature)
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- ¾ cups cranberry sauce (jarred not canned)
For The Glaze
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter (melted and cooled)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4-6 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously grease and flour a 12-cup capacity Bundt Cake pan (measuring about 10 inches in diameter) and set aside.
- Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter, brown sugar, and Granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, and mix in the vanilla, orange juice, zest, and buttermilk until incorporated (the batter will be quite thick). Fold in the cranberries.
- Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan, spoon the cranberry sauce evenly over the batter then top with the remaining batter.
- Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
For The Glaze
- Sift the sugar into a large mixing bowl to avoid lumps.
- add the melted butter, vanilla, and 4 tablespoons of the milk. Mix well and add more milk as needed for the desired consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
Tips
- Don’t have fresh cranberries? Use thawed frozen cranberries (that have been strained) or dried cranberries that have been soaked for 10 to 15 minutes in hot water and then strained. Soaking will help them become plumper, juicier, and softer.
- Prepare the Pan – Be sure to grease and flour all the crevices in the pan with shortening so the cake will release easily, and the design is defined.
- Use Good Quality Ingredients. Cheaper brands of flour use harder wheat, making the cake heavy. Off brands of sugar are often more ground than quality brands, yielding more sugar per cup, which can cause your bake to fall. Cheaper butter brands can contain more liquid fat, affecting a bake.
- Beat softened butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. This step is important because it whips air into the cake batter and rises during baking.
- To prevent the batter from curdling, alternate wet and dry ingredients with the liquid, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until blended after each addition; overmixing at this point can create a tough, rubbery cake.
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