This Christmas cranberry cake is perfect cake to make for the holidays! This three layered white cake is very fluffy and filled with fresh cranberries. It is filled with white chocolate frosting and topped with a cranberry frosting. This cake is also topped with sugared cranberries. It is guaranteed to impress your friends!
This post is sponsored by Wisconsin Cranberries and all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Stephanie’s Sweet Treats possible!
I wanted to create a Christmas cranberry cake that is different than most cranberry cakes. This cake not only has pockets of cranberries all throughout the cake, but it also has a cranberry frosting!
To pair the flavor of tart cranberries, it has a white chocolate frosting. The frosting tastes like a white chocolate truffle! The best part of the holiday season is getting to make so many wonderful recipes and making this perfect Christmas cake is the best way to be the star of the holiday table.
If you are looking for more Christmas recipes, try Christmas sprinkle cookies, gingerbread chocolate chip blondies, and hot chocolate cupcakes.
Why You Will Love This
- Layered cake- This cake is a layered white cake full of cranberries. It is a three layered cake.
- Fresh or frozen cranberries- You can use fresh of frozen cranberries. Wisconsin cranberries are the best quality!
- White chocolate frosting- The frosting tastes like a white chocolate truffle!
- Cranberry frosting- The frosting uses a cranberry sauce to create the natural pink color!
- Sugared cranberries- This decoration is optional, but it sure does make the cake look pretty!
- Easy to make- There are a lot of steps to make this cake, but each step is easy to make.
Ingredient Notes
- Pull dairy ingredients for the cake out 2 hours before baking.
- Cake flour- Use this cake flour. I don't recommend making your own cake flour or using all-purpose flour. The cake flour has less gluten, so it makes for a lighter and tender crumb.
- Butter- Use unsalted butter. There is 1 ¼ cup of butter in the batter. It is a buttery white cake.
- Egg white- The extra egg white helps to transform this into a white cake vs a regular vanilla cake.
- Buttermilk- I used low fat buttermilk. If you can't find buttermilk at your grocery store, mix 1 cup whole mix and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes before using.
- Sour cream- Use full fat sour cream.
- Cranberries- You can use bags of fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries.
- White chocolate- Use a high quality white chocolate bar.
- Powdered sugar- Make sure powdered sugar is sifted. Otherwise your frosting may be a little bit gritty.
Fresh VS Frozen Cranberries
I love using Wisconsin cranberries! They produce over half of the countries cranberry crop!
I feel cranberries are an under-appreciated winter staple. Cranberries are a small tart fruit which pairs so well in desserts!
You can use fresh or frozen cranberries for this recipe. I did use fresh cranberries for the cake, frosting, and sugared cranberries.
If you do use frozen cranberries, they need to be thawed. Frozen berries do bleed more when baked. So there might be more cranberry juice in the cake as it bakes.
Step By Step Instructions
Here is how to make and bake this cranberry cake. For this cake you will use an electric mixer. A stand mixer with paddle attachment or a hand mixer will work.
STEP 1: Mix the dry ingredients. Sift the cake flour first. Then, mix in the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
STEP 2: Beat the butter and sugar. The butter needs to be beaten on high speed for 3 minutes to be aerated with the granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Then, beat in the sour cream, vanilla extract, eggs, and egg white.
STEP 3: Add in dry ingredients and buttermilk. Add in ⅓ of the flour mixture and then ½ of the buttermilk. Alternate these 2 until you end with flour mixture. Make sure to mix on low speed and to not over mix.
Place cranberries on top of the batter and fold them in with a rubber spatula.
STEP 4: Bake cake. Bake the cake in three 8 inch round cake pans sprayed with baking spray and parchment paper in the bottom of the pans. The baking time is 26-30 minutes. They will be golden brown. Cool the cake completely before decorating.
STEP 5: White chocolate frosting. First, beat the slightly cold butter before adding in the powdered sugar. Add the powdered sugar slowly. Next, mix in melted white chocolate, salt, vanilla, and heavy cream.
STEP 6: Cranberry frosting. Beat the slightly cold butter before adding the powdered sugar, just like above. Then, add in the cooled cranberry sauce, vanilla, salt, and heavy cream.
Right before decorating the cake, make sure to beat the frosting with a wooden spoon to beat out the air bubbles.
Timeline For Making The Cake
- Cake- The cake layers can be made up to 1 week ahead. Freeze the cooled cakes by wrapping tightly with plastic wrap. Thaw for 1 hour before decorating.
- Cranberry sauce- Can be made 1 week ahead of time. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Set it on the counter when you pull out the butter for the frosting.
- Frostings- Make these right before decorating.
- Sugared cranberries- Make these 2-3 days before decorating.
Assembling Tips
First, the cake layers need to be slightly cold before decorating. Slightly cold cake is MUCH easier to decorate with.
Spread a tiny amount of frosting on the board you are decorating on. This will act as the glue to keep the cake in place.
The cakes baked flat with no dome for me, if you have a dome, use a serrated knife to level off the cake.
Next, use the cranberry frosting to create 2 layer border on the edge of the cake to keep the filling in place.
Then, spread the white chocolate frosting starting from the middle of the cake into an even layer. Repeat with the second layer and top with the final cake layer.
Frost the cake with a crumb coat. This is a super light layer of frosting over the cake. Freeze the cake 15 minutes to lock those crumbs in place.
Frost the rest of the cake with the frosting. Place sugared cranberries on top of the cake.
FAQ
Yes! Half the recipe for 12 cupcakes.
You need to sift the powdered sugar to avoid any grittiness. Some powdered sugar brands are very clumpy.
No. Only use fresh or frozen cranberries.
Storing and Freezing
Store this Christmas cranberry cake in an airtight container (like a cake carrier) in the fridge. Store up to 5 days. Before serving, let cake get to room temperature before eating.
Freezing
The Christmas cranberry cake can be frozen in individual cake slices. Wrap the slices with cling wrap and freeze up to 30 days.
Thaw for 1-2 hours before eating.
Other Cake Recipes To Try
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Christmas Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
Cranberry Cake
- 3 ⅓ cup Cake flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 ¼ cups Unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ¾ cup White granulated sugar
- 3 Large eggs room temperature
- 1 Egg white room temperature
- 1 tablespoon Pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup Sour cream room temperature
- 1 cup Buttermilk room temperature
- 3 cups Wisconsin cranberries fresh or frozen (if frozen thawed)
- 1 tablespoon Cake flour
White Chocolate Frosting
- ½ cup Unsalted butter slightly cold
- 1 ¼ cup Powdered sugar sifted
- 2 oz White chocolate melted (use bars and not chips)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ cup Heavy cream
Cranberry Sauce
- 3 cups Wisconsin cranberries fresh or frozen
- ⅓ cup White granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoon Water
Cranberry Frosting
- 2 cups Unsalted butter slightly cold
- 6 cups Powdered sugar sifted
- 2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup Cranberry sauce
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 tablespoon Heavy cream
Sugared Cranberries
- 1 ½ cup Wisconsin Cranberries fresh
- ½ cup White granulated sugar
- ½ cup Water
- 2 cups Granulated sugar
Instructions
Cranberry Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray three 8 inch cake pans with baking nonstick spray. Line the bottom with 8 inch parchment circles. Spray again.
- In a mixing bowl, sift the cake flour. Mix in salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Wash and dry cranberries. Mix cranberries with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.3 ⅓ cup Cake flour, 1 teaspoon Salt, 2 teaspoon Baking powder, ¾ teaspoon Baking soda, 3 cups Wisconsin cranberries, 1 tablespoon Cake flour
- Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar on high for 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl. Add in sour cream, vanilla, eggs, and egg white. Beat on high for 2 minutes.1 ¼ cups Unsalted butter, 1 ¾ cup White granulated sugar, 3 Large eggs, 1 Egg white, 1 tablespoon Pure vanilla extract, ¼ cup Sour cream
- Add ⅓rd of the dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk. Mix until it starts to combined. Add another ⅓rd of the dry ingredients and the rest of buttermilk. Finish with the rest of the dry ingredients.1 cup Buttermilk
- Take the bowl off the mixer. Scrape the bowl. Fold in the cranberries into the batter. Separate the batter evenly into the three cake pans.
- Bake the cake for 26-30 minutes. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes sit for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool cakes completely.
White Chocolate Frosting
- Set the butter on the counter for 30 minutes to get slightly cold. Sift the powdered sugar. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the white chocolate in 20 second intervals until melted . Set aside to cool.½ cup Unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cup Powdered sugar, 2 oz White chocolate
- Using a mixer, beat the butter on high for 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl. Very slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat well until you add more powdered sugar.
- Mix in white chocolate, salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Beat on low until combined. Switch to high and beat until fluffy.½ teaspoon Salt, 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, ⅛ cup Heavy cream
Cranberry Sauce
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, mix cranberries and sugar. Once the cranberries start to release juices, cook for 4 minutes stirring constantly.3 cups Wisconsin cranberries, ⅓ cup White granulated sugar
- Pour cranberries into a blender. Blend until it is pureed in texture. Mix with 3 tablespoon of water. Pour sauce over a mesh strainer. Mix until it is strained. If it is too thick to strain, add another 1 tablespoon of water.3 tablespoon Water
- Cool sauce completely.
Cranberry Frosting
- Set the butter on the counter for 30 minutes to get slightly cold. Sift the powdered sugar.2 cups Unsalted butter, 6 cups Powdered sugar
- Using a mixer, beat the butter on high for 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl. Very slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat well until you add more powdered sugar.
- Add in cranberry sauce, vanilla, salt, and heavy cream. Beat on low until combined. Scrape the bowl. Switch the mixer to high and beat until fluffy.2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, ½ cup Cranberry sauce, 1 teaspoon Salt, 3 tablespoon Heavy cream
Sugared Cranberries
- The decoration is optional. Heat water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar is melted to create a simple syrup.½ cup Water, ½ cup White granulated sugar
- Brush the washed and dried cranberries with the simple syrup. Let it dry for 30 minutes.1 ½ cup Wisconsin Cranberries
- Roll cranberries with the sugar and let it dry for 15 minutes before topping the cake with cranberries.2 cups Granulated sugar
Assembling The Cake
- Spread a small amount of frosting on the board you are decorating on to keep the cake in place.
- Place the 1st layer down. Pipe a border around the cake using the cranberry frosting. Spread ½ of the white chocolate frosting on the cake. Repeat with the second layer.
- Top with the third layer. Apply a light layer of frosting around the cake. It should be very light and you can see bits of cake poking through. Freeze for 15 minutes to lock the crumbs in place.
- Frost the rest of the cake. Top with the sugared cranberries.
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