Cranberry Cake with Warm Butter Sauce

Simple and rustic, this Cranberry Cake is a homestyle cake loaded with fresh cranberries and a hint of orange. Top with a warm butter sauce for the ultimate holiday cake.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 417kcal

Author Deborah Harroun

Ingredients

Cake:

3 tablespoons butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
dash salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (roughly chopped)

Warm Butter Sauce:

1 cup butter
1 cups sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until crumbly. Beat in the egg. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the milk. Beat in half of the remaining flour, the remaining milk, then the remaining flour. Add the orange zest. Fold in the chopped cranberries.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
To make the butter sauce, combine the butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and continue to cook until thick, 10-15 minutes, stirring very regularly.
Serve the warm sauce poured over each slice of cake. The sauce will get thicker as it cools, and may crystallize. Re-warm the sauce as needed for serving.

Notes

cake recipe adapted from Taste of Home

SUBSTITUTIONS: Do not substitute dried cranberries for the fresh cranberries. The end result will not be the same. You can use frozen cranberries.

STORE: Store any leftover cake lightly covered at room temperature. The butter sauce will need to be refrigerated and reheated before serving. You could also make the cake ahead of time and freeze it, tightly wrapped. Let it thaw at room temperature. The butter sauce is best if made just before serving.

Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide.

Nutrition