Easy Cranberry Spice Cake

This is a fabulous Christmas cake - and it is so fabulously easy, too.

These gorgeous sugared cranberries turn this Easy Cranberry Spice Cake into something special.

My Easy Cranberry Spice Cake starts out with a box of yellow cake mix. I know, I know. I'm all about the cake mix these days. We gotta keep things easy, right?

I baked this Easy Cranberry Spice Cake in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

I like to doctor my cake mix by adding an extra egg, subbing whole milk for the water, subbing melted butter for the oil, and then doubling the amount of butter. For this cake, I also added a bunch of fresh cranberries and some Chinese five spice (heck yeah!). I baked it up in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan to keep things easy.

I love 9 x 13 cakes. They are the easiest cakes ever. They aren't as glamorous as layer cakes or as cute as cupcakes, but they really are the easiest and they're just as yummy. You can totally bake this cake into a batch of pretty cupcakes if you are so inclined.




The sugared cranberries are also a breeze. I dump my cup of berries into a mixture of meringue powder and water, and then toss them into a dish of sugar. Then, they dry out on a piece of parchment paper. Dump, dump, and dry. So easy.

Aren't these luscious slices of Easy Cranberry Spice Cake tempting?

This lovely cake is very tender and moist. The flavor of the tart berries really pops in your mouth and pairs perfectly with that fabulous spice. And the sweet and fluffy Chinese five spice buttercream? Well, that stuff just sends the whole cake over to amazingly-delicious-ville!

I used Chinese five spice because that's what I had in my pantry. I've also made this cake with chai spice, which is also delicious. Look for these spice blends in the spice aisle.

Easy Cranberry Spice Cake - a festive, delicious, and easy Christmas cake to whip up this season.

I sprinkled the sugared cranberries all over the top of my cake so that each piece of cake would have some. There are far prettier ways to use these gorgeous berries for decorating your cake, but I like an even distribution for eating. 😋

Easy Cranberry Spice Cake

INGREDIENTS
For the sugared cranberries:
2 tsp meringue powder (I got mine at Michael's)
2 Tbsp water
1 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed and dried
1 cup granulated sugar

For the cake:
1 15.25 oz box yellow cake mix
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup unsalted butter, melted (2 sticks)
2 tsp Chinese five spice or chai spice
2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

* These ingredients are based on a cake mix that calls for 3 eggs, 1 cup of water, and 1/2 cup of oil. I added an extra egg, subbed whole milk for the water, and subbed melted butter for the oil, and then doubled the amount of butter.

For the buttercream:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (3 sticks)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp Chinese five spice or chai spice
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 3 Tbsp whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. For the sugared cranberries, mix up the meringue powder and water and whisk until well combined.
2. Throw in your rinsed and dried cranberries and toss to coat.
3. Fill another dish with sugar and scoop the berries out of the meringue mixture. Drop them into the sugar, roll them all around, and set them on a piece of parchment paper to dry. They should be done in a couple of hours. They will feel crisp when you touch them.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish or pan.
5. Mix up your cake batter, except for the cranberries, and let it sit a few minutes on the counter.
6. Fold in the cranberries and dump into prepared pan. Spread evenly.
7. Bake the cake for the time recommended on your box and then cool completely.
8. For the buttercream, beat butter for 30 seconds and then beat in the powdered sugar, spice, and vanilla.
9. Beat in cream one tablespoon at a time until you have a nice spreadable consistency. I used 2 Tbsp. Beat on high for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
10. Frost your cake and decorate with the sugared cranberries.

Cranberry Bliss Muffins

It's cranberry season y'all! I ADORE cranberries! When cranberry season hits I go cranberry crazy. I cook 'em up in jams with strawberries and raspberries, bake them into pies with apples, make cranberry sauce to fill cakes and cupcakes, add them to chutneys, and especially bake them into my favorite holiday muffin.

These Cranberry Bliss Muffins are the perfect Christmas brunch muffin.

These Cranberry Bliss Muffins are my favorite Christmas brunch muffin. They're reminiscent of those delicious dessert bars that Starbucks sells around the holidays. Spiked with brown sugar, orange zest, and packed full of fresh cranberries and toasted walnuts, these babies are a muffin made for thoroughly enjoying cranberry season. They're also topped with a brown sugar and walnut streusel and drizzled with white chocolate icing. How holiday is that?

Unlike most muffins, which call for oil, this muffin starts out by creaming butter and brown sugar till fluffy. You really want to beat in some air at this stage to keep those muffins soft and fluffy. You also want to make sure to alternate your wet and dry ingredients, barely stirring them in each time, just until mostly combined. Remember, we want to add the fluff and avoid the tough. At the end, all the goodies get gently folded in.

Top the muffins with a simple streusel, then bake. Let them cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes, then remove and cool completely.




You can whip up your white chocolate icing while the muffins cool. Use your microwave to make a quick white chocolate ganache. The cooled ganache gets beaten into a bit of butter and a sprinkling of powdered sugar to make the perfect white chocolate icing for these sweet and festive holiday muffins.

I like a double drizzle of white chocolate icing on my Cranberry Bliss Muffins.

Drizzle on as much, or as little, of the icing as you like. I like a lot, so each muffin gets double drizzled. 😋

Happy cranberry season folks!

Cranberry Bliss Muffins
(makes about 22 muffins)

INGREDIENTS
For the muffin batter:
1 cup walnuts
3 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups whole milk
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 1/2 cups cranberries, roughly chopped

For the streusel:
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

For the white chocolate icing:
4 oz white chocolate baking bar, chopped
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar (maybe a cup more)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put the nuts for the muffin batter on a sheet pan and bake for about 7 minutes to toast. Cool completely, roughly chop, and set aside.
3. Increase oven temp to 400 degrees.
4. Mix the streusel ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
6. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar for the muffin batter until light and fluffy.
7. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
8. Alternate stirring in the flour mixture with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and stirring until just combined each time. DO NOT OVER MIX!
9. Gently fold in the toasted walnuts, chopped cranberries, and orange zest.
10. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into about 22 lined muffin cups.
11. Sprinkle tops with the streusel topping.
12. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
13. Cool in pans for 15 to 20 minutes, then remove muffins and cool completely.
14. To make the icing, place the chopped white chocolate in a heat proof bowl.
15. In another heat proof dish, heat the cream in your microwave for a minute or less until just simmering. Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth and then let sit for 15 minutes more.
16. Beat with butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in a little extra powdered sugar if your icing seems too runny.
17. Place icing in a Ziploc freezer bag, twist top closed, and cut a snippet off of one corner (less than 1/4 inch). Squeeze icing onto the tops of cooled muffins.