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,
I really loved this cake. I was just wondering: have you tried using cake flour for this recipe instead of all-purpose? I wanted to experiment with a lighter texture. Do you think this conversion would work?
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’m not sure about cake flour. I haven’t tried it with this cake.
Hi LindsayĀ
My daughter made your cake and everyone at work raved about it!! Ā She wants to use your frosting on another cake but it needs to be purple. Have you ever colored it? If so what did you use and at what point did you add the color?
Thanks!
Jennifer
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the cake! I typically use a gel icing color and add at the end so I can get the color to my liking. I hope that is helpful.
I love, love, love this recipe! I have been making it for several years and it always turns out perfectly! For an upcoming event I would like to make it as individual cupcakes. You mentioned the recipe was developed from a cupcake recipe. Can you suggest any changes I need to make? How long and a what tempature would you bake them?
Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake! Here is the recipe for the Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes.
Hi, is the temperature of the oven Celsius or Fahrenheit, ( am guessing F right ?), also what can i use instead of sour cream ?
Thanks cant wait to try it
Fahrenheit. I haven’t tried, but I’ve heard people use yogurt.
I saw this gorgeous cake recipe 3 years ago and requested it for my birthday cake (January 3rd). My daughter abliged and it was every bit as good as it looks in the pictures!! Ā So, now I an blessed with her making this for my birthday cake ever since!!! Ā Just had it again 2 days ago – and we all LOVE LOVE LOVE this cake!!!!!
That’s wonderful! Happy birthday and I’m so glad you enjoyed!
I made the cake using dried cranberries. I put the dried cranberries in a bowl, coved them with boiling water and let them soak for 20 minutes. Then I drained the water out. It turned out great!
Great! Glad to know it worked well!
Hi Lindsay, can I add dried cranberries instead? I’m trying to keep the cost low bcs fresh/frozen cranberries are expensive here and difficult to come by. Thanks!
Hmm, I haven’t tried so I’m not sure. They could end up a bit chewy.
The best chocolate cake I have ever made ā I couldnāt find espresso powder so I used fresh-brewed coffee for the boiling water. I didnāt love the cake right out of the oven (made a cupcake for sampling) but it was fabulous when frosted. Wow! Keeping this recipe
I made this today for our Christmas eve lunch with family tomorrow. The recipe turned out great – the perfect amount of sweetness and stores well at room temp. I followed it to a T, but I added 2 Tbs orange zest and substituted 2 Tbs orange juice for 2 Tbs of the milk. It was the perfect amount of citrus flavor. Thanks for such a well-documented recipe. This one is definitely a keeper.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Merry Christmas!
so beautiful!
Loved this recipe and had so much fun making it for our Ladies get together!
Thank you for sharing! I’ll be making this every Christmas! :o)
https://adayinthelifeofamissionarywife.blogspot.com/2018/12/christmas-cookie-exchange.html
So glad to hear it! Thanks Kami!
Can I use 3 nine inch pans instead of 8 inch ?
Sure! Theyāll be thinner cakes, so I recommend cooking for a little less time. Iām not sure exactly what itād be…maybe 25-30 minutes?
Hi, I made this about two years ago and really liked it! This year Iām considering making it as cupcakes. Can you suggest a baking time?Ā
Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs. I would recommend checking out my Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes – this might be exactly what you are looking for! š
Hi Kara Jean,
Iād like to make this cake for Christmas Eve . Ā Do you have to cook the cranberries first?
No, they don’t need to be cooked before adding to the cake.
I made this as a 3 layer stacked 8″ cake and it was wonderful. Beautiful, and such a hit for our family’s Christmas. I have a work party coming up, do you think this recipe would work for mini cupcakes? I’m worried the cranberries in the batter might not work well in such a small cup. I thought about slicing them smaller but I don’t want to ruin the batter. Thanks for the awesome recipe. š
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I think you’re thinking is right – mini cupcakes might be tough.
p.s.- I made it work! the mini cupcakes were a huge hit at my work party! the recipe makes a lot, so I made one little 6″ cake and over 50 mini cupcakes!
I diced up the cranberries and they baked beautifully. I also sprayed a little cooking spray in the baking cups bc from experience baked berries like to stick to liners. the baking time was 10-15mins. I topped each mini cupcake with a pretty sparkling cranberry š
Thanks again for the recipe!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed!
How did you get the frosting so smooth? I ended up adding 7 cups of powdered sugar and I still think that was on the edge of too much because it made the frosting super stiff, still delicious, but I ended up with a more rustic look than the polished one in your photo!
I usually use fairly stiff frosting, but you can definitely reduce the powdered sugar if you prefer. When you ask how I got it so smooth do you mean that your frosting was lumpy, or are you referring to the smooth sides of the cake. If referring to the smooth sides of the cake, check out my tutorial for frosting a smooth cake here. I hope that helps!
Made this for our office Christmas party and it was not only stunning but so delicious! I just had a sliver with my morning coffee and I realize I will need to give the rest of this cake away so I personally donāt eat it all! The icing is addictive and the cake was more like a pound cake, so moist. I had quite a few left over sparkling cranberries but we put a few in a glass of Prosecco! Thanks for the recipe!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed! š