A soft, festive cranberry bundt cake! This super soft and simple to make bundt cake is made with cream cheese and buttermilk, is packed with fresh cranberries, and then is drizzled with a white chocolate ganache glaze.
There are only 5 days left until Christmas and I can’t even wrap my head around that right now. 5 days! Are you ready?
I know that I’m not ready for Christmas to be over, I’ve had so much fun preparing for the holiday with so many cookie recipes, (like my sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies, which are going bonkers right now, thank you to everyone who has tried them!), and it’s my favorite time of year to be in the kitchen. January and February may still be snowy and cold, but it’s just not the same without the Christmas tree lit up or Christmas music playing.
For one of my last pre-Christmas recipes this year, I made this beautiful, festive, Cranberry Bundt Cake, packed with bright red cranberries and drizzled with a white chocolate ganache.
I adapted this cranberry bundt cake from my popular coffee cake recipe. I know I’ve talked about that recipe plenty of times before (most recently in my YouTube video!), but this cake base is one of my proudest accomplishments. It took me a long time to find a base that I was happy with, one that was soft and moist, but also stable and dense (as a coffee cake or bundt cake should be), and this one checks all the boxes.
There are a lot of reasons this cake is so soft and irresistible, but I credit it mostly to the fact that I use a whole 8 oz brick of cream cheese in the batter. The texture is also aided by the addition of cornstarch (a staple in nearly all of my baked goods), more brown sugar than white sugar, and buttermilk (I have a simple buttermilk substitute if you don’t keep buttermilk in your fridge)
All of these ingredients come together to give the cake an unbelievable texture and taste. I literally could not stop eating it and wrapped it up for my mom in between bites just to get it out of my house. Addictive.
Enjoy!
I’ll be going Live tomorrow on Facebook at 1:00 EST to make my “Worst” Chocolate Chip Cookies. As usual, I’ll be baking with my little sister, Andi. I hope you’ll stop by and say hi!
Cranberry Bundt Cake with White Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese softened
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (335 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- 2 cups (200 g) fresh or frozen cranberries (if using fresh, make sure to rinse and inspect them)
White Chocolate Glaze
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) white chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and lightly grease and flour a bundt pan. Set aside.
- In KitchenAid mixer, or with electric mixer in large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened, 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese softened
- Beat in sugars until light and fluffy.1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar tightly packed, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of mixing bowl with rubber spatula.2 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt.2 ½ cups (335 g) all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cornstarch, ½ tsp salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet mixture, alternating with buttermilk, until all of the flour mixture and buttermilk have been combined. Batter will be thick.½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- Fold in cranberries (do this by hand, as the mixer may squish the berries)2 cups (200 g) fresh or frozen cranberries
- Evenly spread batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake on 350F (175C) for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake (preferably in a crack) comes out mostly clean with no wet batter.
- Allow cake to cool in the bundt pan for 15 minutes before carefully inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Allow cake to cool completely before adding white chocolate.
White Chocolate Glaze
- Combine heavy cream and white chocolate chips in a small saucepan over low heat.1 ½ cups (255 g) white chocolate chips, ⅓ cup (80 ml) heavy cream
- Stir frequently until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes (if you pour it right away the glaze will be extremely thin and will mostly slide right off your cake), stirring occasionally, before pouring over your completely cooled bundt cake.
- Allow glaze to set before cutting and serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Jody
wondering if I could use half cream cheese and add sour cream for the other half? would that work?
I have sour cream i want to use up.
Sam
It’s a little tricky because sour cream is a lot thinner than cream cheese. It won’t have quite the same depth of flavor and I honestly am not sure how the texture will be, sorry! If you do try it I would love to know how it turns out! I also have a sour cream pound cake that you could add cranberries to if you prefer that!
Anneke
Hi Sam,
I would love to make this cake as a gift for Christmas. Something different then my traditional English Christmas cake.
So i would like to know, how long it will keep.
Kind regards Anneke
Sam
Hi Anneke! I would say it would be good for 3-5 days. 🙂
Anika
Can this be made into cake pans?
Sam
Hi Anika! It is a dense cake, much like a pound cake, but it will work in traditional cake pans. 🙂
Deborah
Wow Sam! Delicious!😋 Scrumptious! 😋Moist! Great flavour! Nice change to taste the juicy tart cranberries not masked by the addition of orange or lemon! Cream cheese takes this cake to next level. I baked for 47 mins and rotated at 37 mins for even baking. You do have to ensure the butter is squashy! Otherwise you will see small lumps in your batter as it was different temperature to cream cheese. So best remedy is to beat butter then add soften cream cheese! I think this fabulous cake would work well in a 10 cup bundt pan. If you test it Sam. Great if you could reflect in recipe! Thank you for sharing an amazing cake. More bundt cake recipes please!!!🙃👩🍳❤️
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Deborah! 🙂
Nancy
Sam, I love your recipes and videos!
I made this Cranberry Bundt Cake.
Because I love cranberry orange together I put it 1 tsp. of vanilla plus 1Tbsp. of orange extract. You read that right 1Tbsp. I always double the flavoring whenever I bake.
Extra yumminess!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Nancy! I’ve never tried it with an orange extract. Sounds tasty. 🙂
Jody
What is the size of the bundt pan?
Sam
It’s a 12 cup Bundt pan. 🙂
Ashley
This was a fun cake to make! We really enjoyed the cake itself and we thought that it didn’t really need a glaze at first because it was so good on its own!. But I definitely think the glaze helps make it more complete and complements the cranberries…so yum. The directions are very detailed and I always come back to your website because I trust that you know what you are doing! So thank you for another awesome recipe.
Sam
Thank you so much, Ashley! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake so much and I’m very honored to be a trusted recipe resource. 🙂
Cary Jo Snyder Milosh
Think this could be made gluten free. with 1 to 1 flour? Sound wonderful.
Sam
Hmmm I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. If you do try it I would love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Jody
All I have is low fat Philly cream cheese. Will that still work here?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We don’t recommend it 🙁
Sonja Caywood
When my daughter made this, I thought it looked a bit heavy, but it is the best cake I’ve ever had! Absolutely delicious! It reminds me a bit of a shortbread in its flavor and the cranberries and white chocolate ganache add the perfect burst of flavor to complement it!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sonja! 🙂
Kassy Stewart
Hi again Sam ~ i love looking through your recipe’s for more inspiration. This recipe looks easy and fun. But, instead of fresh fruits I have a can of blueberries and would like to use that. Do you think that using the syrup in the can would be ok or should I use just the berries? I look forward to your response, thank you.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Kassy! I am so glad that you find inspiration in my recipes. I haven’t tried canned blueberries, but I think that it should work fine. I would drain them first, as I’d be afraid adding the syrup would make your batter too watery and not a good consistency. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Sarah
how much fresh orange juice and zest should I add to make this cake cranberry orange flavored?
Sam
Hi Sarah! I haven’t tried it! You could try subbing some of the buttermilk for orange juice and adding a few tablespoons of zest. It could change the texture of the cake though. Let me know how it goes if you do try it! 🙂
Sylvia Mastrantonio
I made this yesterday. And are now having some. OMG ! This is beyond awesome. Total perfection ! Another winner again, Sam ! Love all your recipes. This is the first time for me making this, and this is amazing !
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Sylvia! I am so glad that you enjoyed the cranberry bundt cake! Thanks for trying my other recipes and for commenting. 🙂
Gabby Hussey
Hello Sam, I have already made this delicious Bundt cake and I was a huge success specially with my husband (which is a lot to say as he’s extremely picky) anyway, since I loved how soft and moist this cake turned out to be, on my second cake I used this identical recipe but instead of cranberries I added 200gr of blueberries along with zest of 2 lemons.. also came out PERFECT. Now, my question is, I don’t have cream cheese in my fridge all the time and going to the shop last minute can be difficult, is there any advice you can offer? If I omit the cream cheese would it make a huge difference? Thank you in advance for your help.
Greetings from London UK.
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Gabby! I am so happy that the Cranberry Bundt Cake has been such a hit in your home. I love the substitution of blueberries and lemon zest. What a wonderful flavor combo! I personally have not tried it, but others have substituted the cream cheese with plain yogurt. The ratio is 1:1. If you try it, let me know how it works for you. The cream cheese really helps make this cake soft and moist so I recommend adding it in. I hope this helps! Happy Baking. 🙂
Sandra
Can you give me a SUBSTITUTION. for the dairy cream cheese &/ yogurt?
Since our household is NON- DAIRY ( intolerances). I use mochamix substitution for buttermilk…
the cream cheese issue has me stumped! I am thinking maybe mayonnaise ??
I made this cake before, just omitting the cream cheese, but cake is a bit dry.
Any advise would be appreciated!
Sam
Hi Sandra! Unfortunately I don’t have a good idea of what could be done here. 🙁
Annette
This looks delicious. I have fresh cranberries I put in the freezer. Do I need to thaw them before adding them to the batter?
Sam
Nope! You can add them frozen. I hope you love the cake! 🙂
Terri
Hi Sam thank you for the recipe. Could I use almond extract instead?
Sam
Sure! It would alter the taste a bit and almond extract is fairly strong so I’d start by using about half the amount of almond extract as you would vanilla and going from there. I hope that helps!