There’s something quietly powerful about a homemade food gift. No receipts. No guesswork. Just time, care, and a little butter on your fingertips. A Cranberry Christmas Cake isn’t just a dessert—it’s a gesture. It says I thought of you, I wanted to nourish you, I wanted to share something from my kitchen with yours. In a season full of lists and last-minute errands, baking for someone is a gentle pause and a meaningful offering. Wrap it in parchment, tie it with twine, and let the gift be the experience itself. Because the most memorable presents are often the ones you can smell before you even open the door.
I love to bake! Monthly, I offer free virtual baking classes where we each meet in our kitchens. I teach you one of my favorite recipes along with baking tips, best practices, and share my favorite baking tools. Be sure to subscribe to my enews or follow me on Instagram to stay up to date on my upcoming classes. You can bake this cranberry Christmas cake along with me here on my YouTube channel. While you are there, be sure to check out my other videos – The Sentimental Twist Podcast I co-host and my Saturday series – the Hostess Journal where I share easy hosting tips and tablescape ideas.
As a bonus, you can visit my Little Digital Boutique here and download a free set of baking gift tags to use for your holiday baking gifts.
Click the pic to get the gift tags
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! It’s perfect as a dessert or for breakfast with coffee.
Cranberry Christmas Cake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into cubes
- 1 tsp real vanilla, not imitation
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 12 oz bag of cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- With a mixer, beat the eggs with sugar until slightly thickened and light in color. The mixture should almost double in size. The eggs work as your leavening agent in this recipe so DO NOT skip this step. This will take about 3-4 minutes.
- 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 gently fold by hand the cranberries into the batter. The batter will be very thick.
- Spread in a buttered and floured 9x13 pan (or two 8 inch baking pans if you want to share).
- Bake for 35-40 mintues or until very lightly browned and toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let cool completely before lightly sifting powdered sugar on top.
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
