This Cranberry Cake recipe is a delicious blend of tart cranberries with just the right sweetness.
Made with simple ingredients like butter, vanilla extract, and citrus zest, this cake is all about simple, great flavors. The key to its light and fluffy texture is the mixing. Be sure to beat the ingredients together for 10 minutes.
This lets the eggs do their job as a leavening agent. A dash of coarse sugar on top before baking adds a crunch and makes it look as good as it tastes.
How to Make Cranberry Cake
Note: The full instructions are provided in the recipe card below.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan or line it with parchment paper; set aside. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened, doubled in volume, and light in color for 10 minutes.
(In this recipe, the eggs work as your leavening agent, so do not skip the 10-minute beating process.) Add the butter, kosher salt, orange zest, and vanilla, and mix for about two more minutes until blended.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour until just combined. Gently fold in the cranberries until combined. The batter will be pretty thick. Spread gently into the prepared 9" x 13" pan and sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top.
Bake the cranberry cake for 40-50 minutes or until very lightly browned, and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let it cool completely before cutting it into slices. Enjoy!
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📖 Recipe
Easy Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs , room temperature
- 2 cups sugar , leveled off
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour , spooned, leveled, and sifted
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon , orange or lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar or any coarse sugar , to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Greased and flour a 9x13 pan with or line with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened, double in volume, and light in color for about 10 minutes (in this recipe, the eggs work as your leavening agent, so do not skip 10 minutes beating process.)
- Add the butter, kosher salt, orange zest, and vanilla, and mix for about two more minutes until blended. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour until just combined. Gently fold in the cranberries until combined.
- The batter will be pretty thick. Spread gently into the prepared 9x13 pan and sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top. Bake the cranberry cake for 40-50 minutes, or until very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into slices. Enjoy!
Notes
- This is a very thick batter when it has finished mixing. You will need to press it into the pan to spread it out.
- There is no baking soda or baking powder needed in this recipe. The extended beating time for the eggs provides the necessary leavening for the cranberry cake (do not shorten or skip the beating process!!!).
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
