Cranberry Christmas Cake

By á-48530

A few weeks ago, my friend Valerie, made this to share with friends. The moment I tasted it, I asked for the recipe. Tart cranberries, sweet buttery cake and a fantastic texture all combined to basically beg me to eat another piece. This is an absolutely perfect cake that takes very little effort to make. No icing, no topping, nothing else is necessary at all. It was reminiscent to me of a coffeecake in texture, but much lighter than the typical heavy version.

This might be the only cake I've ever tasted that basically screams holidays to me. It is pure heaven to eat. I made nine different desserts for a Thanksgiving event and this was my absolute favorite, by far. While I sent almost all the other leftover sweets home with friends and family, I saved two small pieces of this just for myself. I also picked up two more bags of cranberries, so that I will be able to enjoy this cake throughout the coming year!

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 12 oz fresh cranberries

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened and light in color, about 5-7 minutes. The mixture should almost double in size. The eggs work as your leavening agent in this recipe, so do not skip this step. This mixture should form a ribbon when you lift the beaters out of the bowl. Add the butter and vanilla; mix two more minutes. Stir in the flour until just combined. Add the cranberries and stir to mix throughout.

Spread in a buttered 9x13 pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. (I baked mine for 43 minutes.) Let cool completely before cutting into small slices. I cut mine into fairly small pieces, about 1"x2", so that they could be easily eaten at a party. Enjoy!