Try This Beautiful Cranberry Cake Recipe

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The Most Elegant Cake Of The Holiday Season

This beautiful cranberry cake recipe was my favorite discovery last year. I called it the "little black dress" of desserts because it is so simple yet stunning! Less is more, and this cake is fabulous.

It's an absolutely delicious buttery sweet cake studded with whole fresh cranberries. An amazing crisp, sugary crust magically forms on top as it bakes. It looks like it could be Jack Frost's work.

The American Love Affair With Cranberries

It's peak cranberry season! Americans eat 400 million pounds of cranberries every year! Bags and bags of fresh cranberries are piled high in the produce departments of grocery stores all over America right now.

I love that almost all our cranberries are grown here in the USA! Buy several extra bags while they are available because cranberries freeze beautifully right in the package! You can pull some out of the freezer and make your favorite recipes all year! Don't defrost the berries; dust them with flour and fold them into the batter.

Cranberries are our second favorite berry, right below strawberries, and for a good reason! Cranberries can be used in so many ways, from sweet and savory jams, dips, and salsas to amazing bread, pies, and desserts! Twenty percent or eighty MILLION pounds of cranberries are eaten during Thanksgiving week alone!

Why You Will Love This Cranberry Cake Recipe

When I saw a recipe for a simple cake using whole fresh cranberries, I knew I would love it, especially when I saw the main ingredients are butter and sugar! This cake did not disappoint; it was my best new cake find of the year!

The cake is almost chewy, like a buttery bar cookie. The sweetness and the touch of vanilla play perfectly with the tart berries that burst open as the cake bakes. My favorite part is how the batter magically forms a thin, crisp, sugary layer on top. I think this cake is absolutely perfect in every way.

You may notice the recipe has no baking powder or baking soda. In this tender cake, three eggs beaten with sugar for five to seven minutes are the only leavening in this cake. The beaten eggs trap air bubbles in the dough, creating a light, fluffy texture.

Be patient during this process. As you beat the eggs and sugar together, the mixture gets thicker and lighter in color, almost lemon-colored. The volume increases by nearly double. You know you have beaten them long enough when you pull the beaters out of the mixture, and the batter drips off in a thin ribbon.

Next, add the softened butter and vanilla and beat until the butter is fully incorporated into the egg mixture. Cut the butter into pats and add them a few at a time to speed that along a little.

Now, gradually add the flour and mix only long enough so no streaks of flour can be seen. Toss the cranberries with a little flour until they're dusted; this helps to keep them from sinking into the batter.

Finally, use the mixer to beat in all the cranberries. They will break up a little as you do, but as the cake bakes, they will burst open and release their marvelous juice! The batter will be thick, almost like buttery cookie dough!

Pat the batter into a thirteen-by-nine pan you have buttered or sprayed. Bake the cake in a 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes. The top should be a light golden brown, and when you poke a toothpick or cake tester near the middle of the cake, it should come out clean.

Let the cake cool completely before you cut it because the squares will come out more neat and clean. Confession: I did not wait; I couldn't help myself! It was messy but so incredibly delicious I didn't care.

You can leave this cake on the counter, covered, for two or three days, then refrigerate or freeze it. Just so you know, the crispy sugar crust will disappear from the moisture in the cake after you cover it, but it's still amazing.

Personally, I think this cake is perfect just the way it is. I don't believe it needs anything on top, but I'm sure it would be wonderful with a dollop of whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Yield: 15 servings

Cranberry Cake Recipe

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Cranberry Cake is simple, yet beautiful: an absolutely delicious buttery sweet cake studded with whole fresh cranberries. An amazing sugary crust magically forms on top as it bakes.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into pats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

Instructions

1. Butter or spray a 13" by 9" baking pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened, light in color, and about doubled in volume - about 5-7 minutes. This is easiest if you have a stand mixer. Be patient; take your time with this step. The beaten eggs are what give the cake its volume.
4. Add the butter and vanilla; mix for two more minutes.
5. Add the flour gradually and beat until no flour streaks show, but don't overbeat.
6. Toss the cranberries with a little flour to coat them before folding them into the batter. This helped keep them from sinking.
7. Add the cranberries and stir to mix throughout. You can use your stand mixer for this step, too. The cranberries will break up even more as the cake bakes.
8. Spread the thick dough in the pan and pat it in place.
9. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the middle of the cake comes out clean.
10. Let the cake cool completely before cutting it into serving pieces.

I'm more of a pie girl most of the time, but this cake is pretty spectacular! Here are a couple of other cake recipes I think you'll enjoy! Easy Peach Cake, Mountain Dew Cake, and Triple Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake.

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If you haven't already, please check out my Facebook page and find me on Pinterest, where I will post easy, delicious, and family-friendly recipes every week!

Love, GB (Betty Streff)

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