This easy to make cranberry cake is perfect for the holidays with bright pops of cranberries in a tender cake topped with a warm butter sauce.
- Prep Time:
10 mins - Cook Time:
25 mins - Total Time:
35 mins
Topping off a special holiday meal doesn’t have to mean pulling out a big fancy dessert. Sometimes a very simple, but no less decadent, dessert will do. Introducing the cranberry pudding cake. Or maybe I should say re-introducing.
Cranberry pudding cake actually isn’t a new idea. It’s been around for ages and most people’s grandmothers probably had a version of the recipe (that’s where my husband got his copy). However, it does seem to be a recipe that got lost to the mists of time.
Few people have heard of cranberry pudding cake these days yet I think it’s a good one to have in your back pocket. It is simple to make and is perfect for the holidays with its bright pops of cranberries.
Unlike a traditional British Christmas pudding which involves steaming a cake for several hours, this cranberry cake is a one-bowl cake recipe that bakes in about 25 minutes. Keep a bag of cranberries in your fridge and you’ll be prepared to whip up this homey dessert at any time.
What makes this dessert really good though is the warm butter sauce. The cake, eaten on its own, would seem underwhelming and the tart/sour cranberries can be overpowering.
However, it’s when the cake meets the warm butter sauce that magic happens. The sweetness of the sauce blends with the tartness of the cranberries to strike a perfect balance and the sauce gives the cake a luscious texture. My oldest daughter likes to mash her cake up with the sauce in order to get a perfect distribution of cake and sauce. I prefer to pour a generous amount of the silky sauce onto a still warm slice of cake and let it soak in.
Holidays are great a time to start new traditions. Maybe it’s time to give cranberry pudding cake its place at the table.
Cranberry Pudding Cake with Warm Butter Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8-12 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This easy to make cranberry cake is perfect for the holidays with bright pops of cranberries in a tender cake topped with a warm butter sauce.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
For the sauce
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
For the cake
- Prep oven. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Mix. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until well blended and creamy, about 4 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. On low speed, mix in the flour and baking powder. Add milk and cranberries and mix until well blended and batter looks smooth.
- Bake. Pour batter into a 11×7-inch buttered baking pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20-30 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack while making the butter sauce.
For the sauce and serving
- Make sauce. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in cream and sugar and cook over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved and sauce is hot throughout.
- Serve. To serve, cut the cake and place slices on serving plates. Pour warm sauce over each slice and serve.
Notes
- This dessert is best eaten warm. The sauce will harden and crystallize as it cools. You can gently re-warm the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly, to keep the sauce from separating.
Christine smartt says
My family has used this recipe for over 30 years. The warm butter sauce shouldn’t crystallize if it’s made properly. What it actually is is a light caramel sauce. Bring the ingredients to a boil, stirring constantly over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer and stir constantly for 5 minutes. The results are a delicious caramel sauce that does not crystallize, although refrigerated leftovers will stiffen. When we heat up leftover cranberry pudding cake, we microwave a piece will to dollop of the caramel sauce for about 20-30 seconds. The result is as good as freshly made.
Taming of the Spoon says
I’ve never tried cooking the sauce to a caramelization stage. I’ll have to try that this year. Thanks for the tip!