Sparkling Cranberry Cake


Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 65 minutes

Servings: 10

Sparkling Cranberry Christmas Cake is loaded with whole, fresh cranberries in the batter and sugared on top. This cake is a showstopper with a simple orange glaze and sugared cranberries and rosemary on top but surprisingly easy to make! Tart, sweet, and festive for any holiday table! Make up to 3 days ahead of time for Christmas.

Ingredients

Directions

Step 1

Sparkling Cranberries: Bring 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to simmer, simmer until completely dissolved. Pour simple sugar syrup into heatproof bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cranberries and stir to coat. Refrigerate cranberries for at least 1 hour or overnight, stirring a couple times to coat cranberries. Spread 1/2 cup granulated sugar on small plate, repeat as necessary. Remove sparkling cranberries from syrup and roll in granulated sugar. Dip Rosemary into syrup and roll in sugar. Set cranberries and rosemary to dry on cooling rack or wax paper for 30 -60 minutes to harden.

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl; beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each use.

Step 3

Mix together 2 cups flour, salt, and baking powder.

Step 4

Gradually add to cream cheese & butter mixture.

Step 5

Mix 1/4 cup flour with chopped nuts and 2 1/2 cups cranberries. Mix into batter - batter will be very thick.

Step 6

Spray 10" bundt pan with Baking Spray with Flour. Spoon batter into pan and smooth.

Step 7

Bake at 350° for 50 - 65 minutes or until cooked through when poked with a toothpick. If using convection oven, decrease temperature to 340° and check for doneness at 40 minutes.

Step 8

Flip cake over onto a cooking rack and allow to cool 5 minutes before removing pan.

Step 9

Create Orange Glaze by beating together 1 cup powdered sugar with 2-4 Tbsp Orange Juice until desired consistency. Add more juice if glaze is too thick or more sugar if glaze is too thin.

Step 10

Drizzle orange glaze over cooled cake by teaspoon.

Step 11

Top the cake with sparkling cranberries and rosemary. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cook's Notes

If you prefer a zestier orange glaze, add 1 Tbsp orange zest to glaze. If you prefer the budnt cake to be covered in orange glaze, double the glaze recipe. You can choose pecans or walnuts for this recipe or omit.