Full Bloom Blog

Whether you’re making your cranberry sauce from scratch or opening a can; making it outright or using up leftovers; serving this treat with coffee after the big meal or the next morning for brunch, one thing is for sure: this treat is very versatile! But bonus, it also happens to be warm, delicious, and festive!

Cranberry Sauce Coffee Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup cranberry sauce

Topping

• 3 Tbsp very cold butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour

Directions

If you’re making your own cranberry sauce, prepare and chill at least two hours ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9″X9″ pan or 9″ casserole dish.

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder making sure no large clumps remain.

Alternating with the dry ingredients add the milk to the wet ingredients starting and ending with the dry.

Pour batter into the greased pan. Next, pour on the cranberry in an even layer covering the batter.

Using a pastry cutter (or mini chopper – see below), combine the topping ingredients: butter, flour, and sugar until it forms a crumbly texture.

Sprinkle crumb topping over the cranberry sauce.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until cake is fully cooked through.

Allow the cake to cool at least 30 minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired before serving! Best enjoyed warm with a festive beverage!

I prefer to make my own cranberry sauce- just like my mom! I prefer more basic and traditional approach and stick to just cranberries and sugar. I decided to get fancy this time though and add some pomegranate perils to my sauce! I had about 1.5 cups of fruit and 1/2 cup of sugar. I added filtered water, enough to allow the berries to move as they boiled, and simmered for an afternoon. Once it cooled to room temperature, I transferred the sauce to a glass dish and covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated over night.

I like to use a stand mixer to blend the butter and sugar so you can turn up the speed and make it nice and fluffy. Once eggs are added, spoon in flour mixture with the mixer on low so as not to create a cloud of flour poof! Add alternately with milk mixing just until combined.

One of my favorite kitchen short cuts: my mini chopper as a replacement for a pastry cutter! Just make sure your butter is very cold and watch that you don’t over mix. If you “chop” for too long, the butter will begin to clump up. Stop when your butter, flour, and sugar resemble fine crumbs.

Here is the order of layers for your coffee cake. Start with batter, add cranberries, and sprinkle crumb mixture on top.

If your baking dish is filled to the top, consider setting it on a cookie sheet to catch any overflowing juices from the cranberries. Place in a 350 degree oven and check in around 35-40 minutes. Crumb topping should be golden and cake should be fully set.

Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar if desired and enjoy served warm with your favorite festive beverage!

Let me know if you try this recipe and how it goes!