cranberry pecan cake

This cranberry pecan cake is tender and buttery with a brown sugar cinnamon pecan crumble blanketing each bite. Fitting for breakfast, brunch, snack, or dessert. See recipe notes about best baking pans.

Cranberry Pecan Cake

teaspoon baking powder

teaspoon baking soda

teaspoon salt

cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

(150 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs,

teaspoon pure vanilla extract

cup (120 grams) full-fat sour cream,

Tablespoons (30 milliliters) milk

(250 grams) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)

(90 grams) roughly chopped pecans

cup (67 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar

(63 grams) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)

cinnamon

(4 Tbsp; 60 grams) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

(90 grams) confectioners’ sugar

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (22 milliliters) milk, heavy cream, or orange juice

vanilla extract (skip if using orange juice)

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish. (See note below for recommendations on best pans to use.)

Make the cake: 

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until creamy and combined, about 2 minutes. On medium speed, add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat again as needed to combine. (Mixture may appear curdled&#8211; that&#8217;s ok.) With the mixer on low speed, pour in the dry ingredients and milk/orange juice and beat until smooth and combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick. Fold in the cranberries and pecans. Spread into prepared pan. Set aside.

Make the crumb topping: 

Combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender or a fork (or even with your hands) until the mixture is crumbly. Mix in the pecans. Sprinkle evenly over batter.

Bake for 40-55 minutes. Baking times vary greatly depending on the pan you&#8217;re using. A thick ceramic pan (as pictured) will take longer than a metal springform pan. Keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when the edges are browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.

Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Make the icing

As the cake slightly cools, you can make the icing by whisking the icing ingredients together until smooth. Add more milk/cream/orange juice to thin out if needed. Drizzle icing over cake while it&#8217;s still warm. Slice and serve.

Cover and store leftover cake at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

We enjoyed this cake at home so when my MIL asked for a suggestion to serve to her church ladies group, I suggested this. At my suggestion she put it in a 9x13" pan and baked it about 40 min. She topped it with Cool Whip instead of the drizzle and said she got many compliments on it and the thickness was perfect. .

Sally, you have one of the only blogs that I have complete confidence in. I know that any recipe of yours will turn out great. This cake was no exception. I used dried cranberries because that is what we had, but I’m definitely going to make this once I can get fresh cranberries. I added the zest of a large orange to the butter and sugar before creaming it because I love cranberries and orange.

Sally, I love this cake so much and cannot stop thinking about making it again. I was wondering how chopped dried apricots would be in this cake instead of cranberries?

This is an awesome bake! It went together so easily. It smells so good baking, I can hardly wait to taste it!  It’s out. It’s delicious. I baked two mini loaves and one large loaf. I dusted heavily with powdered sugar then I topped them with a powdered sugar orange juice glaze. The crumbs of topping that fell off when I turned out the large loaf are so tasty that I had to try to glue them on with powdered sugar and glaze. One mini loaf is for a friend the other is for my wife and me. The large loaf is going in the freezer until Christmas Day. Then it’ll be shared with friends and family. Thank you. I love your blog!!!!

I made this recipe Thanksgiving morning. We enjoyed it then, but I just wanted to note that unlike other coffee cakes, which are pretty much dustbowls later, this one was even more moist the next day. Apparently, like a good piundcake, it improves with time.

Solid recipe. Used an 11 x 17  Pyrex pan and put the glaze on the top. The catch is getting the middle done without over baking the edges. Perhaps a ceramic dish (as pictured) would be best. That’s seems to be the rub with this recipe. Otherwise the cranberries and pecan pair well. Tasty but be careful… or it will be dry.

What a lovely recipe. I took it to a gathering Sunday morning and received lots of good response. Can you tell me about the great pan you baked it in for photos? Thanks.

OMG... like all of your other recipes, this was the BOMB! So moist and flavorful. I made one for myself then decided to make 2 more for my neighbors as a holiday gift and they raved about it as well. Thank you for helping me find my annual holiday baked goods giveaway!

Scary, it was so so so delicious!!!!!  Easy to make, even easier to eat AND absolutely beautiful with the cranberry color.  Directions were spot on.  Oh boy .............. this is the just beginning of my new love affair with this coffee cake base.

I baked this in a springform pan.  I don't think I got the center baked, but still plan to eat the part that got baked.  I do like the flavor.  The streusel adds a lot to it.  Lately I've over baked things and that's probably why I may have jumped the gun on this and took it out too soon.

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Cranberry Pecan Cake

The most viewed cranberry pecan cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine