Frosted Cranberry Bundt Cake

This super easy and beautiful Frosted Cranberry Bundt Cake is loaded with whole, fresh cranberries, frosted with a simple icing, and topped with a sugared cranberry garnish. Tart, sweet, and perfect for any holiday table, this gorgeous, showstopping cake is even more delicious than it looks!

This Frosted Cranberry Bundt Cake is the last of Lord Byron’s 12 Bundt Cakes of Christmas! I’d like to say that I have saved the best for last, but that’s not true, because, in my opinion, they’re all the best! To be completely honest, I think I had baked and photographed all of the cakes in this series back in early September, but I couldn’t bake the last two until just a few days ago. With good reason, I assure you!

I needed fresh cranberries for this cake, which were hard to find too long before Thanksgiving. And, despite my powers of persuasion, grocery stores will not stock eggnog until October! Don’t they know I have a blog to run!? I’ve been waiting for so long to make this cake and photograph it. The design has been in my head for months! And, I absolutely love whole, fresh cranberries when baked into cakes or muffins, so I knew as soon as the last photo was taken, I could dig in!

O CRANBERRY, CRANBERRY, WHEREFORE ART THOU CRANBERRY?

Have you been reading my blog for any length of time? If you have, you will already be aware of what I’m about to discuss. If you haven’t, it’s important that you understand how frustrating it can be to be a food blogger at times. Food bloggers are always working ahead of schedule. When it comes to Christmas recipes, for example, we are baking cakes and cookies as early as September!

We do this so that we can test the recipes to make sure that they will work for you at home. The recipes need to be plated and styled. Photographs need to be taken. We have to write up the post and make sure we please the folks at Google, otherwise, our recipes run the risk of being buried in cyberspace somewhere. There are many other steps that I’m skipping here, but all of it is to say that we need the time to get the recipes out to you a few weeks before you need them.

Now, as a huge fan of Christmas baking – the 200+ Christmas recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen are proof of that – there’s one thing that frustrates me every single year. There’s a tremendous lack of things like fresh cranberries for many months of the year. Don’t even get me started on holiday confections like Hershey’s chocolate or candy canes! Luckily, here in Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October, so I was able to get my hands on the cranberries used in these Lemon Cranberry Cookies!

THE SUGAR IS NEEDED TO CUT THE TARTNESS

There are some of you that will be tempted to cut back on the amount of sugar in this recipe. Believe me, it is needed to offset the extreme tartness of the cranberries. Without the sugar, the cake might be too bitter.

As for the sugared cranberries you see around the cake and filling the bundt pan cavity, those are completely optional. You don’t need to spend your money or your time if you prefer not to. I just think that the sugared/frosted cranberries add so much prettiness to the Christmas bundt cake.

OPTIONAL ICING

Before you get to the recipe, it’s important to note that the icing is very thin and I only used it to act as a glue for the sugared cranberries. This cake is sweet enough and the icing is not needed if you are not going to place the cranberries on your cake.

If you want to skip the cranberries and the icing, I would simply dust the top of the cake with confectioner’s sugar and serve the cake with fresh, unsweetened whipped cream.

Well, Dear Reader, that’s it! It’s time to wrap up the 12 Bundt Cakes of Christmas series here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen. It seems like I just got started! I hope you’ve enjoyed the series and that you’ve baked a few of the cakes along the way. If not, well, hopefully you’ll come back when you start your holiday baking.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Sugar
• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature!
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Milk
• Vanilla Extract – You can use rum here if you prefer.
• Fresh Cranberries – This cake has not been tested with frozen cranberries.

FOR THE FROSTING AND GARNISH:

• Fresh Cranberries
• Water
• Corn Syrup – There are a lot of misconceptions about corn syrup because one of them is bad for you and the other one is just liquid sugar extracted from corn. We are using the latter, which won’t hurt anyone in moderation.
• Sugar
• Confectioner’s Sugar
• Milk

HOW TO MAKE A FROSTED CRANBERRY BUNDT CAKE

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a bundt pan by greasing it with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle in a tablespoon of flour and tap out the excess. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes.) Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Beat into the sugar and butter mixture until just incorporated. Set aside. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until just mixed. Add the cranberries and fold into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Once you remove the cake from the oven, it is very important to leave the cake in the pan. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack. Leave the cake to cool for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and allow to fully cool before serving.

While the cake cools, prepare the sugared cranberry garnish by whisking together the light corn syrup and water. Coat the cranberries with the mixture by tossing cranberries with the corn syrup mixture. Spread the sugar on a baking sheet and roll the coated cranberries into the sugar until well covered. Set aside for 2 hours to dry. Do not cover and do not refrigerate.

Once the cake is fully cooled, prepare the frosting by whisking together the confectioner’s sugar and milk until smooth and creamy. Pour evenly over the cooled cake. Top with the dried cranberry garnish and serve.

WHAT IS CORN SYRUP?

I’m not an expert on corn syrup, so I sourced this information from the Food Network. They write that corn syrup is made from corn. The glucose in the corn is extracted and then refined. That leaves behind a thick and gooey light golden syrup that is pure glucose. Corn syrup should not be confused with high fructose corn syrup. They are two very different things. The latter is a combination of both glucose and fructose, whereas grocery store corn syrup is just glucose.

The type of corn syrup you buy in grocery stores will dissolve well in liquids and doesn’t crystalize like many other sweeteners. It’s very often used in candy making and for keeping sweet sauces looking shiny. Most of the beautifully decorated cookies you eat at Christmastime will have corn syrup in the icing to keep them looking glossy. Some baked items use it to help with the consistency of the final product.

If you are 100% against using corn syrup, a quick internet search will suggest some alternatives that you can use. It is suggested that the best alternative is agave syrup. It’s neutral in flavour, so it would be a good choice. Honey is a close second choice and one that most of us are familiar with. Honey has a flavour to it though, so it will affect the overall outcome of your Caramel Peanut Slices. I have not tested this recipe with anything and I have only ever used the Crown brand. You can use white or golden corn syrup for this recipe.

SUBSCRIBE NOW SO THAT YOU NEVER MISS OUT ON NEW RECIPES!

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Lord Byron’s 12 Christmas Bundt Cake series! I’m updating this paragraph right here to let you know that even though this original cake series was published in 2019, there have been many holiday recipes shared since then. Some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday recipe countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cakes, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cakes will stay fresh in a covered cake stand or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want to serve the cake, take it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.

If you plan to freeze your Frosted Cranberry Bundt Cake, you certainly can! I would not recommend adding the frosting or decorative sprinkles until you take the cake out of the freezer to thaw. To freeze almost any cake, wrap the completely cooled cake well in two layers of plastic wrap. Then, wrap it tightly in a layer of aluminum foil. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!