A soft and fluffy almond-flavored cake filled with fresh cranberries and topped with a buttery almond streusel. A delicious and comforting breakfast or dessert for the holiday season.
You are looking at the reason I am currently stockpiling cranberries. You are also looking at the BEST thing to come out of my kitchen in weeks (months?).
A fluffy almond cake studded with fresh cranberries, topped with an almond streusel and drizzled with almond icing – like, I can barely write that without licking my computer screen. Gah! This is the cake for almond lovers! Pssst…If you love almond, you’ll go crazy for these Almond Croissants and Almond Cake, too.
Can this be breakfast? YES!
Can this be dessert? YES!
Should you make this and then invite me over to share it with you? Also, YES!
I am writing this post on a sugar high, nibbling bits of sugared almonds off the plate in front of me. I have consumed so many pieces of cake that I’m embarrassed to put the actual number on this page. Cake makes me happy, and I’m working on living my best holiday-life. ‘Tis the season!
Almond Cranberry Cake
- This cake starts with a soft and fluffy sour cream cake. The cake batter is flavored with vanilla and plenty of almond extract. The sour cream keeps it fluffy and moist, and keeps it from being too sweet.
- The cake batter is filled with beautiful fresh cranberries. 1 1/2 cups of cranberries add a pop of color and distinct tart flavor.
- The cake batter gets topped with a sweet and buttery almond crumble made from sliced almonds, butter, sugar, and flour.
- After baking, drizzle the cake with almond icing … and enjoy a big slice while it’s still warm.
This cake can be served for breakfast alongside a cup of coffee or tea. It can also be dessert, topped with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.
Can You Freeze Cranberry Cake?
You sure can, friends. I tightly wrapped leftover slices of this cake and they freeze beautifully. Bonus: You can freeze slices and thaw them everytime you need a sweet treat (read: every single day, if you’re me).
The combination of cranberry and almond is basically a match made heaven. I mean, after trying this I am basically giving the cranberry-orange combo the boot. CRANBERRY-ALMOND is where it’s at!
MORE CRANBERRY RECIPES: CRANBERRY FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE – APPLE CIDER CRANBERRY SAUCE – APPLE CRANBERRY BREAD – CRANBERRY BLISS BARS – CRANBERRY SALAD
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Almond Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour*
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 teaspoons almond extract
- 2/3 cup sour cream, thick sour cream is best
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
Almond Topping:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Icing:
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
- drop almond extract
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 6 tablespoons butter and 2/3 cup sugar for several minutes, until creamy and well combined. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Beat until just combined. Add the sour cream and 2 tablespoons milk, beating until combined. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Add the cranberries and use a rubber spatula to gently fold them into the batter.
- Grease a 9x9** square baking pan. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Make topping.
Topping:
- Combine butter, sugar, flour, and almond extract. Use a fork to stir and mash the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the sliced almonds and mix until combined. Sprinkle the topping over the top of the cake batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool.
Icing:
- Whisk all icing ingredients. Adjust the consistency as necessary by adding more powdered sugar or milk. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
Tofu Kid says
Since October of this year I have made this delicious cake 7 times. It is delicious.
Question: Can I substitute the flour for gluten free all purpose flour?
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I would assume that you could swap an equal amount of cup-to-cup all purpose gluten free flour. Thanks for stopping by!
Nicki says
This was a delicious recipe… We slightly modified the topping by adding 2 extra tbsp flour and 1/3 c oatmeal
Celebrating Sweets says
Thanks for sharing your changes. I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Kym says
I made it last night. Delicious!! Instructions were great! Thank you!
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Layla says
I’ve made this twice now and it really is delicious.
For those of you who want to cook this in something smaller than a 9×9 pan, I’d recommend baking it for 30 minutes before loosely tenting it in foil and baking for a further 15-20 minutes. This is how I baked mine and it came out perfect and soft.
Celebrating Sweets says
Thanks for sharing your tips. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Paula Warren says
I have made this cake twice. First time I had to leave it in for a few extra minutes due to the center not be done. I made a second one today and after 30 minutes it was soupy in the middle. I have a gas oven that cooks all other cookies and cakes perfectly. Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong? What was done was soooo good.
Celebrating Sweets says
Hi, Paula. What size pan are you using? Did you see my note in the recipe card regarding pan size? Also, one reason it could take a bit longer is if you use frozen cranberries. If you’re baking it in the same oven that you made the first cake in it should be done in the same amount of time…unless you changed something the second time around.
Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Allison
Vee says
Bless you! My family doesn’t like nuts in bakery items so I faked them out and made almond dust. That cake lasted ONE day! It was sooooo good. I did increase the vanilla and added orange zest and half of the dour cream and the other half was orange yogurt.
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing your changes, too – sounds delicious! Thanks for stopping by.
Niyati Parikh says
Can I use 1/2 cup of almond meal? In what proportion should I add?
Allison says
I have only made the recipe as written, so I can’t say. You can try swapping it for some of the flour, but I think 1/2 cup might be too much. You’d just have to play around with it.