Quick Lemon Cranberry Cake Recipe
Quick Lemon Cranberry Cake Recipe features a soft, lemon-infused base with a swirl of tart cranberry sauce in the center, with a delightful surprise in every slice. It's the perfect sweet and simple holiday cake or for any get-together that looks stunning with just a dusting of powdered sugar.
Servings: 10 slices
Calories: 384kcal
Equipment
- Stand Mixer optional, batter can be made entirely by hand
Ingredients
For the cranberry filling:
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup coconut oil or any mild flavored oil
- 6 Tablespoons butter softened, or margarine for dairy free
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice I used Limoncello, as I had some homemade on hand
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole-wheat pastry flour could use all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk use dairy-free nut milk, if you like
- 2 Tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt (use dairy-free if you like)
Instructions
For the cranberry filling:
- In a small sauce pan, combine cranberries, brown sugar, water, and spices. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar is melted.
- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the cranberries have burst, 5 to 6 minutes. Smash down cranberries a little while they are cooking. Set aside to cool while you prep cake batter.
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour your bundt pan (regular 10 cup bundt pan). I personally prefer to use baking spray for bundt pans.
- Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating until incorporated. Stir in vanilla, lemon rind, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or limoncello).
- In a large bowl, combine flours, powder, soda, and salt; set aside.
- Combine buttermilk and sour cream. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
- Spoon half of batter into prepared bundt pan. Spoon the filling on top of the batter forming a ring of the sauce in the middle, taking care not to go all the way to edge of batter and touch sides of pan.
- Spoon on rest of the batter and smooth the top. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes.
- Flip cake out onto your cake platter. Dust on confectioner’s sugar or a sugar glaze. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Use fresh cranberries for the best tart flavor and texture. Frozen works too, but thaw + drain first so the filling doesn’t get watery.
- If your filling looks thin, simmer 1–2 extra minutes so it thickens slightly before adding to the pan.
- Let the cranberry filling cool before layering so it doesn’t melt the batter and sink.
- Don’t spread filling to the edge. Keep it 2–3 cm away from the sides so it stays in the middle and doesn’t burn onto the pan.
- For clean layering: add batter, then filling, then batter again, and gently smooth the top without mixing.
- A 10-cup bundt pan is ideal. If your pan is smaller, don’t overfill (fill about ⅔–¾ full).
- Bundt pan prep matters: use bundt baking spray or grease + flour every crevice so it releases easily.
- If you skip whole wheat pastry flour, replace it with all-purpose flour 1:1.
- Coconut oil works best when it’s soft but not melted hot, so it blends smoothly with sugar/butter.
- Buttermilk substitute: 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar, let sit 5 minutes.
- Let the cake cool in the pan 10 minutes only (too long = sticks, too short = breaks).
- Best finish: dust with powdered sugar or drizzle a simple glaze (powdered sugar + lemon juice).
- Flavor tip: that limoncello swap is amazing, keep it. It boosts the lemon notes without tasting “boozy.”
- Storage: keep covered at room temp 2 days, or refrigerate up to 5 days.
- Freezing: slice and freeze in airtight layers for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 384kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 252mg | Potassium: 99mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 266IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 2mg