The Best Gingerbread Cranberry Cake
A festive Gingerbread Cranberry Cake with cranberry compote and white chocolate buttercream is the perfect holiday dessert.
Gingerbread Cranberry Cake
With Christmas around the corner, I have another new cake that would be perfect for your holiday gatherings. Whether you’re getting together with family or keeping your celebrations small, having cake as your dining table centerpiece is always a good idea!
This week’s new cake is my Gingerbread Cranberry Cake. Gingerbread is one of my favorite holiday desserts this time of year. In fact, I’ve made a few gingerbread cakes in the past that I think you’ll also love:
HOW TO MAKE MOIST CAKE FROM SCRATCH
Don’t forget to follow my go-to tips for getting moist cakes that rise well:
- Preheat your oven for 30 minutes prior to baking.
- Use good quality pans like Fat Daddio.
- Spray your pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.
- Make sure to beat the oil, sugars, and eggs really well. The mixture should be smooth in texture and nearly doubled in volume when you’re done mixing. THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT!
- Don’t overmix your cake batter once you add the dry ingredients.
- Use room temperature wet ingredients. Not cold at all.
- Use fresh baking powder.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. REMEMBER: the cake continues to bake for a few minutes while it cools in the pan.
How to Make Buttercream Frosting
To get a light and fluffy homemade buttercream frosting, make sure you follow my tips over at: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM
These steps are written up for my vanilla buttercream, but are supposed to be applied to any of my buttercream recipes.
- Sift your powdered sugar
- Use slightly cold butter
- Use heavy whipping cream
- Beat for 5 minutes
- Stir by hand
You’ll want to check out the post linked above for more details on each step.
HOW TO MAKE CANDIED CRANBERRIES
- Bring the 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pour the simple syrup into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Add cranberries and stir to coat.
- Refrigerate cranberries during the day or overnight, stirring occasionally to coat with syrup.
- Remove cranberries from syrup and roll in remaining ½ cup sugar. You’ll need to roll them a few times to get a couple of layers of sugar on them.
- Set cranberries aside to dry for an hour or so.
Gingerbread Cranberry Cake
Gingerbread cake layers with cranberry compote and white chocolate buttercream.
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 1/4 cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (5.3 g) ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons (5.3 g) cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup (165 g) brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (300 g) buttermilk, room temperature
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
- 6 ounces white chocolate
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla
- generous pinch of salt
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra ½ batch.
FOR THE CANDIED CRANBERRIES
- 2 cups (200 g) fresh cranberries
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar, divided
- 1 cup (236.6 g) water
FOR THE COMPOTE
- 2 cups (200 g) fresh cranberries
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (118.3 g) water
- 1 tablespoon (8.12 g) cornstarch, sifted
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch pans with nonstick spray, line the bottoms with parchment and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
- Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add in the brown sugar and beat together on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- On medium-low, gradually add in the eggs and molasses until incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium-high and mix until smooth and nearly double in volume, about 3 minutes.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Once mixed, evenly divide all of the batter into the prepared pans (about 16 ounces in each 8-inch pan).
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, checking around 25 minutes. When you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, a few moist crumbs should come out on it. Remember, the cake continues to bake for 5 minutes as it cools in the pans.
- Cool on a wire rack before de-panning.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter on medium-high for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Melt white chocolate and cream together until smooth consistency and then add to butter.
- On low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the vanilla, and salt.
- Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for another 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
FOR THE CANDIED CRANBERRIES
- Bring the 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pour the simple syrup into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Add cranberries and stir to coat. Refrigerate cranberries during the day or overnight, stirring occasionally to coat with syrup.
- Remove cranberries from syrup and roll in remaining ½ cup sugar. You’ll need to roll them a few times to get a couple of layers of sugar on them. Set cranberries aside to dry for an hour or so.
FOR THE COMPOTE
- In a saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar and water over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and then cover to allow the cranberries to cook and soften.
- When the cranberries have softened and begin to pop, slowly add the sifted corn starch and stir until it is incorporated. (If you don’t sift the cornstarch, you’ll likely get white clumps in the compote that are hard to dissolve.) You can use a fork or potato masher to help break up the cranberries as well.
- Allow the cranberries to simmer for another 5 minutes. The mixture will become thick and somewhat jelly-like. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and let cool to room temperature or store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use.
ASSEMBLY
- Place the first cake layer (top side up) on a cake board. Spread about ½ cup of the buttercream evenly over the cake layer. Pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of the cake.
- Spread half of the cranberry compote across the buttercream.
- Repeat these steps for the second layer and then place the third cake layer, top side down.
- Apply a thin coat of frosting around the entire cake to lock in the crumbs. This coat of frosting does not need to look pretty, it’s simply to lock in the crumbs so they don’t get into the final coat of frosting. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes.
- After the crumb coat is set, continue to frost and decorate the cake with the remaining buttercream and candied cranberries.
This looks absolutely delicious! Is there supposed to be white chocolate in the buttercream?
It’s fixed! The white chocolate is in there. I’m sorry!
I cannot wait to try this!!
I am planning to make this cake, but I am wondering if you left out an ingredient in the buttercream? It’s supposed to be white chocolate buttercream, but the recipe you provide looks to be a vanilla buttercream – just butter, powdered sugar, cream and vanilla. Am I missing something?
It’s fixed! The white chocolate is in there. I’m sorry!
Yum! What makes it a white chocolate buttercream?
It’s fixed! The white chocolate is in there. I’m sorry!
Hey Courtney–is this cake supposed to have vanilla or white chocolate buttercream? The title describes white chocolate and yet the recipe that follows doesn’t seem to match? Also, I would love to add a “crunch” to this cake. I was thinking some kind of spiced pecans, but perhaps you have another idea? Thanks!
It’s fixed! The white chocolate is in there! I’m sorry. And pecans sound great!
Is this for a 3 layer 8 inch cake or 6 inch? The description says 6, but the instructions say to use 8 inch pans. Can’t wait to make this – the flavor combination sound amazing!
The 3 layer 6 inch cake description comes up in the serving size when you select to print the recipe. Thanks!
Hello! So looking forward to trying this recipe this weekend, but I have a question about the buttercream. The title says it’s a white chocolate buttercream, but there’s no white chocolate in the recipe. Am I missing something?
It’s fixed! The white chocolate is in there. I’m sorry!
Just curious– would there be any way to incorporate chocolate into this recipe, like in the cake? like a chocolate-gingerbread cranberry cake?
You could make a chocolate ganache to drizzle between the layers.
i’ve tried three times to make the buttercream, but every time i do it gets o crumbly and is unfixable no matter what i try!! what might I be doing wrong??
It might be that your air is a little dry. Don’t worry! Just add a few tablespoons melted butter to soften it up.
How do you think this would be with GF AP flour?
Good!