Cranberry Eggnog Cake

A soft and tender cranberry eggnog cake, from scratch, with fresh cranberries and a simple eggnog glaze. Perfect make ahead holiday dessert!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Canadian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Cooling Time 2

Total Time 3

Servings servings

Calories 400kcal

Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 10-cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray containing flour. (You can also brush the pan with butter and lightly coat with flour).
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.
Using an electric mixer (stand or handheld), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. This will take about 3-5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addtiion, and then mix in the vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, start adding the flour mixture, alternating with the eggnog, until both are incorporated into the batter. (Start and end with the flour).
Gently fold in the cranberries.
Add the batter to the prepared bundt pan and tap the bottom of the pan off the counter a few times to make sure the batter settles into the crevices of the bundt pan.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, stir together the powdered sugar, eggnog and nutmeg until smooth.
Pour over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.

Size of bundt pan. I used a 10-cup bundt pan for this cake. You can use a 12-cup pan, just note that the cake will be shorter and will bake faster, so it'll only take about 35-40 minutes.
Grease the bundt pan. To ensure the cake releases easily, you'll want to grease the bundt pan well. I usually just use a non-stick cooking spray containing flour. Spray the pan just before you add the batter. If you spray it too early, the grease will run down the pan and pool at the bottom.
Cream butter and sugar well. You want the mixture to be light and fluffy. I usually cream them together for about 5 minutes to get to this stage. This incorporates air into the batter and helps with texture and rise.
Alternate flour and eggnog. This helps both ingredients mix into the batter easily, without over mixing, and results in a smooth, cohesive batter.
Let cake cool for 10 minutes. Once the cake comes out of the oven, let it rest in the pan for 10 minutes. If you try to turn it out right away, the cake may break apart. Be sure to set a timer. If you let it sit in the pan too long, the cake will start to stick to the pan.