A soft and moist almond flavored cake filled with fresh cranberries and topped with a sweet almond streusel. A delicious breakfast or dessert for the holiday season. Choose between two pan sizes and whip up this incredible cake anytime you choose.
Get ready to sink your teeth into the very best Cranberry Cake! The combination of almond and cranberry is a match made in heaven! This soft almond cake is studded with fresh cranberries, topped with an almond streusel, and drizzled with almond icing.
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Recipe overview
Cake: The base of this cake is an almond-flavored cake that is soft and moist and filled with fresh cranberries.
Topping: An almond streusel topping gets sprinkled on top of the cake before baking. This crumb topping adds a sweet almond crunch to every bite.
Bake: Bake this cake in a 9×9 or 8×11 pan for 30-40 minutes.
Icing: After cooling, drizzle the cake with an almond icing made from powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Texture: Thanks to the butter/sugar creaming technique as well as the addition of sour cream this cake bakes up ultra soft and moist. The crunchy almond topping contrasts wonderfully with the tender cake.
Flavor: The combination of sweet almond and tart cranberry is incredible!
Versatility: 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.
Ingredient spotlight: almond extract
Aside from the cranberries, almond extract is the star of this recipe. It adds the perfect almond flavor to every layer (cake, topping, AND icing). Be sure to use pure almond extract, not imitation, for the best flavor. Almond extract is much stronger than vanilla extract, so use it sparingly.
More almond recipes: Almond Cake, Almond Croissants, Almond Cherry Crumb Bars.
Recipe tips
Butter should be room temperature so that it blends easily.
Use thick sour cream (full fat or low fat) so that the batter isn’t too thin. Daisy brand is my favorite.
Don’t overmix. In order to keep the cake light and tender make sure to mix the cake batter until just combined.
Stir in the cranberries by hand (using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon). This ensures that they don’t get broken up by the mixer.
Don’t overbake. As you approach the end of bake time watch the cake closely, pull it out of the oven as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Pan size options
This recipe can be made in a 9×9 square baking pan or an 8×11 rectangle baking pan.
9×9: This makes a slightly thicker cake. It will take a little longer to bake than the 8×11 pan.
8×11: This is my preferred pan size. The cake is thick, but not too thick. It bakes a few minutes faster than the 9×9.
Do NOT try to squeeze this batter into an 8×8 pan. There will be too much batter and the edges will dry out before the center is cooked through.
Can you freeze cranberry cake?
Yes. Double wrap leftover slices of this cake and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw a slice anytime you need a sweet treat.
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Recipe
Almond Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour*
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ teaspoons almond extract
- ⅔ cup sour cream, thick sour cream is best
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 scant cups fresh cranberries
Almond topping:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Icing:
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ 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 ⅔ 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 9×9 square baking pan or 8×11 rectangle 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 30-40 minutes (begin checking at 30 minutes, see note), 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Barb
Can this be made into a 13 x 8 pan?
Celebrating Sweets
It will be quite thin if you put it in a 13×8. You are probably best doubling it for that sized pan, but I think you will have more cake batter than necessary. If I were to try it, I would probably reserve a cup or so of batter (use it for muffins?) so the cake isn’t too thick.
Ann
I made this today, and it is fantastic! I only had frozen cranberries, but it still turned out great. The almond and cranberry flavors work so great together! I will be making this next Thanksgiving–it is a keeper! Thanks for the recipe.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Ann. I’m glad that you liked it. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Happy New Year! -Allison
Libbi
Made this last night, bake time was closer to 50 minutes, as at 25 minutes it was still almost liquid. The cake was a little dry around the outside thought due to the long baking time.
Celebrating Sweets
Did you use a 9×9 square pan, as the recipe stated? If you used an 8×8 pan the cake will be so thick that it will take significantly longer to cook, and that will lead to dryness around the outside.
Maria
Mine took about 45 minutes too. Very delicious though. I added orange zest to the glaze.
Patricia Carbone
Can I use dried cranberries?
Celebrating Sweets
You probably can, but I’m not sure how they will hold up after spending so long in the oven. My worry is that they might dry out. If you try it, please let me know how it goes.
Diane
Just made this today and it is so delicious. I just can’t figure out how you can make this in a 9×9 and bake it for only 25-30 min. I did not have a 9×9 so made it in a 9×11 and it took 40 min to get done in the center. The outer edges were dark and a bit dry but the rest of the cake was perfect and I even used frozen cranberries.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Diane. Different ovens can can bake faster/slower, and different bakeware (metal vs glass) can bake at a different rate, this could be part of the reason for the difference in bake time. Also, the fact that you used frozen cranberries will definitely require a longer bake time. Your cake batter was significantly colder than mine going into the oven, so it would have taken longer to bake. Hope that helps. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’m glad that it worked with frozen cranberries. Enjoy!
Diane
Ok that I never thought of and you are right the frozen berries would take the batter longer to warm up to bake. I learned something new which is a good thing. Thanks for taking the time to reply
Laura
I made this recipe today it took nearly an hour to bake and it was still all raw in the middle, not to mention the streusel topping sunk into the cake.I’m an experienced Baker I don’t know what the heck went wrong ,my ingredients were precise, and I used the right size pan.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Laura. I’m so sorry to hear that. I just made this cake again recently with no trouble.
Are you 100% sure that your baking pan is a 9×9 and NOT an 8×8? This cake is very thick, and if it is baked in an 8×8 pan it will take a long time to bake through, and the extra batter will likely “swallow” the crumb topping as it rises (since the pan is overfilled). Although some recipes allow you to use an 8×8 and 9×9 pan interchangeably, this one is definitely intended for a 9×9.
Also, if your cranberries were frozen, that would have added to the bake time as well.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Karen
The only problem with this recipe is that my husband says every time he walks into the kitchen he HAS to have another slice. I did substitute yogurt for the sour cream (cause at 6 am when I decided to make this I didn’t realize that we had no sour cream – a rarity) and used buttermilk for the milk to help with the tang.
I didn’t make the drizzle and it’s great without!
Used fresh cranberries and a heavy-ish metal pan that was slightly tapered 8.5″ measured across the bottom and 9″ across the top. At 25 minutes it was still wet at 35 minutes it was perfect!
Thanks for a recipe that’s a keeper!
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Karen. Thanks for the kind review. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Happy holidays! -Allison
Kendra Butler
I made this cake, but in a meral springform pan and it worked so well! 35 minutes, greased with butter. Worked like a dream! I love this cake.
Celebrating Sweets
Thanks for the kind review! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Pam
Hi Kendra, What size springform pan did you use, please?
Deborah
One of the best cakes around. Took it to my daughters house where she and her husband and almost two year old devoured it ! It became more moist the second day…kinda like carrot cake gets. Really moist and super flavorful with the fresh cranberries. Making another tomorrow to take to a friend. Truly a super great cake ! Thanks so much for sharing !!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment. Happy holidays!
Krystal
I absolutely love this recipe!! Made it today for my family and my kids and husband loved it. My husband wants another one to share with his coworkers while they drink coffee. Thank you so much ? Happy Holidays ?
Celebrating Sweets
Thanks for the kind review! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Happy holidays!