The perfect Christmas cake! It is not only so gorgeous, it is super tasty, too! I found the recipe on alattefood.com so go check out her site if you have not been there yet! She has some great recipes. I changed a few things in this recipe but for the most part, it’s the same. If you love the tartness of cranberry, this cake is for you. Just know that this recipe is more involved than other cakes I have made, so make sure you have a lot of time and patience before starting. So, come on! You got this…

What you will need:

Cake:

3 round cake pans either 8 inch or 9 inch sprayed with non-stick spray (note: My cake is only 2 tiers because the other tier did not make it out of the pan. We had a little baker catastrophe. BUT it was still eaten ;))

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs, separated at room temp
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk (I used 2 %)
1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
Orange zest from 1 orange
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries + Tbsp flour

Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
4 oz. cream cheese at room temp
Orange zest from 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
4 cups powdered sugar
Optional: cranberries and orange slices to decorate

Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add oil and sugar and beat until nice and fluffy. Add in vanilla and egg yolks and beat until well combined.

In another bowl, mix together the milk, sour cream or yogurt, and orange zest. Alternating with the flour mixture, beat into the butter mixture until just combined. Flour mixture, milk mixture, flour mixture, milk mixture, etc.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cake batter.

Toss the cranberries in 1 Tbsp of flour and then fold into the cake batter. Evenly pour batter into prepared cake pans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely on wire racks.

Make the frosting

Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add in orange zest and vanilla and beat until combined. Beat in orange juice and 2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat until you reach desired consistency, adding more powdered sugar as needed.

Frost the cooled cakes, decorate and enjoy!

I stored my cake covered, in the fridge but let it come to room temperature when serving. I know! A lot of steps but it’s definitely worth it 🙂

Oh, and last but not least, I tossed my cranberries in a bowl with a tiny amount of water and granulated sugar to get that candied look.