A soft and moist almond cake filled with fresh cranberries and topped with a buttery almond streusel and almond icing.
This is a delicious breakfast or dessert for the holiday season with the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors. The combination of almond and cranberry is a match made in heaven!
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What sets this recipe apart
Almond + cranberry: Instead of the typical cranberry and orange pairing this recipe features the flavor of sweet and nutty almonds with tart cranberries. It’s incredible!
Versatile: This cake can be served for breakfast, dessert, or snacking.
Two pan sizes: You can make this recipe in a 9×9 square pan or an 8×11 rectangular pan.
Visual recipe overview
Full recipe below in recipe card
Cake batter
Prepare the cake batter and stir in the cranberries.
Almond topping
Stir together butter, sugar, flour, almond extract, and sliced almonds for the topping.
Bake
Spread the cake batter into a greased pan. Sprinkle the topping over the cake batter and bake.
Almond icing
Whisk powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.
My recipe testing tips
Butter or oil: This cake can be made with butter or oil. I do notice that it stays moist longer when made with oil. If using butter, it should be room temperature so that it blends easily.
Sour cream: Use a thick sour cream so that the batter isn’t too thin. Daisy brand is my favorite. It can be full fat or light.
Cranberries: 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 or with moist (not wet) crumbs. This is a thick cake so it will bake for at least 30 minutes.
Pan size: This recipe is made in a 9×9 square pan (or 8×11). Do not try to squeeze it into an 8×8, you will have too much batter.
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Recipe
Almond Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 ⅔ cups (210g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled or weighed
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85g) softened unsalted butter OR 6 tablespoons (90ml) vegetable oil, see note
- ⅔ cup (134g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ teaspoons pure almond extract
- ⅔ cup (160g) sour cream, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 generous cups (204g) fresh cranberries
Almond topping:
- 3 tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- scant ¼ cup (28g) all purpose flour, spooned into the measuring cup
- ⅛ teaspoon pure almond extract
- ½ cup (55g) sliced almonds
Icing:
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
- couple drops pure almond extract
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center of the oven. Grease a 9×9 square baking pan or an 8×11 baking pan (no smaller!) and set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter OR oil and sugar. If using butter this should take a minute or two. If using oil, just mix for about 30 seconds. Add eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract 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.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Proceed with the 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 28-38 minutes (begin checking at 28 minutes), until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs, no raw batter. Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool.
Icing:
- Whisk all icing ingredients. Adjust the consistency if needed by adding more powdered sugar to thicken or milk to thin. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
Video
Notes
Pan size:
Use a 9×9 or 8×11 pan for this recipe, do not try to squeeze it into a smaller pan. I prefer a metal pan because it bakes more evenly. If using a glass pan, bake time will likely be on the shorter end.Butter/oil:
This cake can be made with butter or oil. I do notice that it stays moist longer when made with oil. If using butter, it should be room temperature so that it blends easilyServing and storage:
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Leftovers can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerated for up to 4 days, or frozen (double wrapped) for up to 3 months. Recipe updated November 2025 with weight measurements, a few small tweaks, and more detailed instructions. Original recipe here.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 says
Can this be made into a 13 x 8 pan?
Celebrating Sweets says
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 says
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 says
Hi, Ann. I’m glad that you liked it. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Happy New Year! -Allison
Libbi says
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 says
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 says
Mine took about 45 minutes too. Very delicious though. I added orange zest to the glaze.
Patricia Carbone says
Can I use dried cranberries?
Celebrating Sweets says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
Hi, Karen. Thanks for the kind review. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Happy holidays! -Allison
Kendra Butler says
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 says
Thanks for the kind review! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Pam says
Hi Kendra, What size springform pan did you use, please?
Deborah says
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 says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment. Happy holidays!
Krystal says
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 says
Thanks for the kind review! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Happy holidays!