This Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cake recipe is no doubt a new favorite – especially for Christmas! The cake is incredibly moist and flavorful and the cranberries add the prefect burst of fruity flavor.
This weekend was crazy busy, but so fun! We finally started turning our āformal living roomā into my office. Weād already cleared the room, so this weekend we steam cleaned the carpets and got the main pieces of furniture. I still want to get a few other things and some decorative pieces, but the big stuff is there and Iām ready to get organized!
We got the furniture at IKEA and I love it! It took us forever to get through the store though. I got three pieces of furniture – a desk, shelves for all my props, and a table to use for taking photos on. It took awhile to pick everything out since IKEA has all these things in different rooms. I was taking a lot of pictures and trying to picture them all in a room together.
The hubs didnāt really realize IKEA was so big and had so much stuff, so he was pretty excited to realize they had so many decorative things and stuff beyond just furniture. I think weāll be making another trip soon.
If youāve been before, you know you collect the boxes at the end of the trek through the store. One of our items – the table – was back where only IKEA employees could get to it so after we checked out, we had to wait at the pick up area for it. It took longer than we expected though, so the hubs started wondering around near the food. Next thing I knew, he came back with ICEEs and cinnamon rolls. ICEEs are one of his all-time faves.
āThe cinnamon rolls had just come out of the oven and were only $1,ā he said.
Oh, how well he knows me. Besides, itād been so long it was dinner time and we were hungry. Those cinnamon rolls didnāt last 30 seconds. And they were good too. So fluffy!
Kind of like this cake. š
How To Make This White Chocolate Cake
The cake itself is a little modification of my vanilla cupcakes, doubled. Dang is it good. It is so moist and the flavor is to die for. I love that itās one bowl and everything just gets mixed together. One note about the mixing – you donāt want to over mix the batter. Once everything is combined, you only want to mix until itās smooth. No longer.
The cranberries get stirred in after the mixing. This was my first time ever baking, or even tasting, fresh cranberries. I didnāt realize they were so tart! But baked into the lightly dense cake, they are sweeter and delicious! I love the pop of fruit in the cake.
The icing is full of white chocolate. Itās made basically by making white chocolate ganache, then adding butter and powdered sugar. Delicious.
Decorating Your White Chocolate Cake with Sparkling Cranberries
And I was totally in love with the sparkling cranberries. They are just so festive! Because of them though, the cake takes a little planning. The cranberries sit in a simple syrup overnight so they get nice and sticky. Then theyāre covered in sugar. I waited until the cake was all made and iced before moving onto the cranberries and that was silly of me. It was whole other day before I could finish off the cake with the cranberries and dig in.
It was worth the wait though.
I used some of the remaining sugar that had clumped together on top of the cake. It felt so snowy and wintery.
Growing up, my younger brother and I always wished for a white Christmas. I donāt think weāve ever had one, but this cake would definitely make up for it. š
This Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cake was a hit with everyone! Iām so glad too, because I needed help eating it. I knew if I didnāt get it out of the house soon enough, Iād devour the whole thing. Yummy!
More Cranberry Dessert Recipes
- Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes
- White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge
- Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Bundt Cake
- White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
- Cranberry Bliss Bars
Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cake
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Ingredients
Sparkling Cranberries
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 1/2 cups (310g) granulated sugar (divided)
- 1 cup (240ml) water
Cranberry Cake
- 3 1/3 cups (433g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (414g) granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) salted butter (room temperature)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) sour cream
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
- 3 cups fresh cranberries
White Chocolate Icing
- 12 oz white chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 8-9 cups (920–1035g) powdered sugar
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
Sparkling Cranberries
- Bring 1 cup sugar and water to a simmer in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pour simple syrup into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Add cranberries and stir to coat.
- Refrigerate cranberries in syrup overnight, stirred a couple times to coat with syrup.
- Remove cranberries from syrup and roll in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. You'll need to roll them a few times to get a couple layers of sugar on them.
- Set cranberries aside to dry for a hour or so.
Cranberry Cake
- Preheat oven to 350ā. Prepare three 8-inch cake pans with baking spray and parchment paper in the bottom of the pans.
- Whisk together flour, sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
- Add butter, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream and milk and mix on medium speed just until smooth. Do not over mix.
- Gently stir in cranberries.
- Spread batter evenly between the three cake pan.
- Bake 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.
- Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.
White Chocolate Icing
- Place white chocolate chips in a metal bowl.
- Microwave heavy cream until it starts to boil. Remove from microwave and pour over chocolate chips.
- Cover bowl with saran wrap for 5-7 minutes.
- Whisk chocolate and cream until smooth.
- Allow ganache to sit until mostly cool. It should be thick.
- Beat the ganache with a mixer for about 2-3 minutes, until smooth and fluffy.
- Add butter and beat until it is fully combined.
- Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until it is fluffy and the right consistency. Add more cream if needed.
Put the Cake Together
- Remove cake domes from cakes with a large serrated knife.
- Place first layer of cake on cake plate. Spread about icing on top in an even layer.
- Add second layer of cake and add more icing on top in an even layer.
- Add final layer of cake on top and ice the outside of the cake.
- Top the cake with sparkling cranberries and add some around the edge, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Enjoy!
Categories:
Cakes and Cupcakes, Christmas, Fall and Holiday Favorites, Holidays, Recipes, Sweets and Treats,
Does this cake have to be refrigerated?
Buttercream should be refrigerated after about 24 hours at room temperature, so yes, you’d likely need to refrigerate it.
Hi I was wondering if frozen cranberries could be used? Iām in Australia and havenāt ever seen them fresh. Thank you
That should be fine. I’d thaw them and remove the excess water before adding them.
How to make it a sheet cake?
I haven’t made it that size before. You shouldn’t need to adjust any ingredients, I don’t think. I often reduce baking temperature for a 9×13 to 325, but I haven’t tested that with this.
Hello Thank you for this recipe!
It looks like a wonderful recipe to try this Christmas.
Can I replace the fresh cranberries with the dry ones?
Where I live is not available the fresh ones.
I have never tried dried cranberries in something other than cookies. I imagine they would be a little firm and chewy. Do you have access to frozen cranberries?
Great recipe. However, I added vanilla (1 1/2 tea) to the icing. I take this cake to Christmas parties and get great reviews. It looks like a cake out of the Southern Living magazine.
So glad itās a hit!
My family adores this cranberry cake, but I wondered can you make it cupcakes instead?
So glad you enjoy it! I imagine it would be fine as cupcakes.
Hi can I use strawberries instead š thanks
I would think that’d be fine.
Can I substitute dried cranberries instead???
I think dried cranberries would be a little chewy and sweeter than fresh berries. I don’t think I’d recommend it, but you could certainly try it.
Hi Lindsay,
Thank you for answering my questions, will let you know how cake turns out, hopefully it will be a success in June for my future daughter in laws baby shower, thank you again Denise
Hi Iām just making my ingredient list for this cake but substituting cranberries for raspberries can you give me a rough idea of quantity of raspberries as it says 3 cups and not quite sure what amount this is? Also the salted butter for cake gives 2 amounts is it both or 336grms or 340grms at room temp? many thanks Denise
3 cups of raspberries would weigh about 337 grams. A pint of raspberries is about 170g, so you’d need two for the cake batter. And it’s 336 grams for the butter. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi was going to use this recipe but replacing cranberries with fresh raspberries or dried raspberries which do you think will work best, thanks Denise
I would recommend the fresh raspberries.
Ok thanks will give it a go
I have been making this cake for my daughter’s birthday for several years now! I just want to say it is the most-requested cake I have made! I have even made it as a vanilla cake without the berries a few times because we love the velvety texture so much! A winner, for sure, Lindsey! Thanks for sharing!
So glad to hear that! Thank you!
My husband is a baker, I am not but going to attempt this for his birthday this weekend. i’ve been reading through a bunch of different recipies and just wanted to double check on the vanilla as 2 TBSP seems like a lot compared to others…. I’m very nervous to try baking for a baker, and thought i better confirm….. wish me luck…
This is AMAZING!!! Thank you for sharing! My husband ate half of it and doesnāt even like cakes š our new Christmas tradition for sure!
I posted earlier and forgot to mention, I should have given this a 5. It was everything it was told it would be. Delicious.
Do you think you can tell me what the calories would be without the icing?
I made this cake for the first time and, without a trial run, brought it to Christmas dinner. It was amazing!
I didn’t use cranberries, but I did have blue berries and rasperries. Frozen.
It was a bit heavier in a couple spots because of what was said, that it might make it that way d/t water, but it was a hit none the less.
Icing was really sweat, so to feel better about the calories, I’m sorry, I scrapped it off.
I would make this cake again, even without the icing. It’s not very sweet, but I prefer it that way.
I will make it again, and would also want to try a healthier version, keto maybe? Only because it was so good!!