Alexandra's Kitchen

A food blog with mostly simple, sometimes fussy, always seasonal recipes.

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Cranberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

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Not too sweet, festively studded with cranberries, this cranberry breakfast cake will be wonderful on Christmas morning. Best of all, you can make the batter the night before and bake the cake in the morning. // alexandracooks.com

I’m starting to panic. Family will be arriving any moment (9 more days), and I am so not prepared. The biscotti jar is empty; the granola bin, bare. No gifts have been assembled. The house is a sty, getting messier by the day.

Somehow, however, I’ve crossed one to-do off my growing list. In an effort to figure out what to bake on Christmas morning, I turned to an old standby and swapped cranberries for the blueberries, orange zest for the lemon, and increased the sugar a teensy bit. It worked beautifully! Not too sweet, festively studded with cranberries, this cake will be wonderful on Christmas morning. Best of all, I made the batter the night before and baked the cake in the morning. If you’re not a cranberry fan, you could stick to frozen blueberries, a substitution many of you have had success with — thanks for all of your tips and suggestions.

One last thing, I’ve made a new page, “The Essentials” (see above), where I’ve collected all of my favorite recipes, techniques, how-to’s, etc. The “recipe archive” page was getting a bit unwieldy, and my hope with this page is to provide an easier way to find just what you might be looking for.

And one very last thing, be sure to check back Monday if you are interested in winning a free download of the Food52 Holiday Recipe & Survival Guide iPad app. I’m partaking in this contest.

Not too sweet, festively studded with cranberries, this cranberry breakfast cake will be wonderful on Christmas morning. Best of all, you can make the batter the night before and bake the cake in the morning. // alexandracooks.com

cranberries and orange zest

One of the most frequently asked questions about the buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake was if the batter could be prepared the night before. Several of you attempted and had success, so I tried it with this one. It worked perfectly — thanks!

Store batter in a tupperware overnight, then transfer to prepared pan in the morning:
batter for buttermilk cranberry breakfast cake

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Cranberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Alexandra
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Total Time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 8
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Description

Notes: This recipe is essentially the Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cakerecipe but with cranberries swapped for the blueberries. I increased the sugar to 1 cup (from 7/8 cup) b/c cranberries are a bit tart and substituted orange zest for the lemon zest. If you don’t like cranberries, many people have had luck with frozen blueberries. Also, this batter can be prepared the night before. Don’t store it in the pan you plan on baking it in — store it in tupperware of some sort, then transfer to a greased pan in the morning.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • the zest from 1 orange zest
  • 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries
  • ½ cup buttermilk

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with orange zest and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the cranberries with 2 tablespoons of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the cranberries.
  4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes, then check for doneness by touching the top gently or by inserting a toothpick. If necessary, return pan to oven, check every five minutes or so — it took my cake a little bit over 45 minutes to cook. (Note: Baking for as long as 50 minutes might be necessary, especially if you made the batter in advance.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. This was a really good premise for a breakfast bread. I tweaked the recipe with what I had on hand plus made it a little healthier. I used a combination of dried cranberries with a can of whole berry cranberry sauce to replace the sugar. Subbed out the butter for cinnamon applesauce, added yogurt instead of buttermilk (same ratio), and added fresh sliced strawberries in a layer between the batter when filling the pan. Man, when I tell you how awesome that was! Thanks!

    Reply

    • Wow, amazing! Nice work on all of those healthy substitutions. I love the texture of yogurt and applesauce in cakes — so moist and delicious. Thanks for writing in!

      Reply

  2. Love this! I’ve had it pinned for months, but my weekly standards of make-ahead breakfast kept winning out each Sunday. Finally got to it today.

    I followed the tips of upping the orange zest and pressing the zest into the sugar before creaming w/ butter.

    I put in half AP flour, 1/4 c. almond meal, 1/4 c. WW flour which altogether made a terrific texture.

    This cake is addictive!

    Reply

  5. I made it last night and had only one problem–the cake did not bake through in the middle. The edges tasted great but the middle was mushy even though I had it in the oven for 45 min. (testers came out clean). Perhaps making it in a smaller container would help?

    Reply

  6. I can’t wait to make this! It looks amazing. My family tends to be cranberry crazy, so this ought to be a big hit. I think I would like to try it as muffins. I would like to freeze some to have to grab on the way to work. I was very excited to find the post that said this works great as muffins. It is unusual that I don’t have buttermilk in my fridge, but for some reason I don’t. I am hitting the store on my way home from work today! Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

  7. My daughter and I made this and both loved it! We tweeted it by using 3/4 c of oatmeal (chopped in a blender) with 1 1/4 c of flour and 1/2 c plain yogurt + 1 tsp vinegar and 1 1/2 Tbsp of milk. We used the fresh cranberries and the zest of a tangerine and flavor was wonderful. We put the batter in four mini loaf pans and pressed chopped pecans to the top along with sprinkling the sugar. It was not overly sweet like a cake, but it was so much better than any cranberry orange bread recipe I’ve tried. I plan to do it as muffins next time! Thank you!!

    Reply

  8. I made this today and used gluten free flour (which contains Xanthenum gum) instead of regular flour, a couple of tbsp of lemon juice as well as a little extra buttermilk since gluten free flour is a little drier. Got messed up and added a tsp of baking soda as well, but it just added to the fluffiness. All in all, it was very delicious.

    Reply

  10. I just made this recipe and it turned out fabulous: medium-fluffy texture (not too fluffy, not too dense) and a great taste, not too sweet. It might be a little tart for some: my daughter suggested that next time, I chop the cranberries so they are spread throughout the batter a little more and she also suggested that I dredge the cranberries in 2 Tbsp of sugar instead of flour, so they are a little less tart. I prefer the tartness but realize not everyone does! I used frozen whole cranberries, so I had to add about 8 minutes more cooking time. I didn’t have buttermilk: instead, after grating the orange rind, I squeezed out the orange juice from both halves, put it in the measuring cup and filled it up with milk to the required amount, letting it sit while creaming the butter & measuring out the dry ingredients. It worked just fine, even if the orange juice only slightly soured the milk; it added a little extra orange flavor and used up the whole orange, too. This recipe’s a keeper. Thanks!

    Reply

  11. Is it ok to use frozen cranberries since they are not in season, and would that alter anything in the recipe?
    Thanks!!

    Reply

  12. For some reason the first two photos of the post are not showing for me. I refreshed and they still do not show. I thought I would let you know.

    Cranberries are hard to find in my town. I do have craisins. I think they would work fine, but will rehydrate with a bit if boiling water first.

    Thank you for the recipe.

    Reply

  13. This Thanksgiving I am traveling (by car) to my Thanksgiving location and am in charge of breakfast the next morning. Would it be possible to prepare the dough, freeze it, transport it/defrost it, and then bake it the next morning?

    Reply

    • Hi Elizabeth,

      I worry about freezing the unbaked dough. I think if you make the dough on Thanksgiving morning before you travel, it should be fine in the car en route — if you are worried, you could pack it on ice. Store it in the fridge till you bake it. How far is your drive?

      Reply

  15. I made this cake with some leftover fresh cranberries – I had no idea what to do with them. This cake is amazing! Moist, tart, slightly sweet. We have some leftover cream cheese icing from another holiday baking project and I think a small smear on top would be delicious for an after dinner treat!

    I left the off the tablespoon of sugar on top and the cake was delicious. Mine took about 45 minutes also. It wasn’t completely done in the middle, but it was golden brown on top so I pulled it from the oven to let it cool overnight. Came out perfect!

    Reply

  16. Hi,
    I’m making this for my family’s Christmas Eve Brunch get together and my bake ware collection is pathetic (putting it nicely). I was wondering if it would bake well in a bundt pan?

    Reply

    • Allyson, so sorry for the delay here! Did you end up baking it in a bundt pan? I love a bundt pan. My concern here is if there would be enough batter. I am sure it would bake fine, but it might be a smallish cake. Hope that makes sense.

      Reply

  17. I absolutely love this recipe and have been making it for years! I’d like to make it into jumbo muffins for a Holiday Bazaar. What would you recommend I bake them at and for how long?

    Reply

    • I think you could up the temperature to 375ºF and make them for about 25 to 30 minutes. I think you’ll just have to experiment with the timing a little bit — check after 25 minutes. I suggest the higher temperature so that they brown nicely, but if they are browning too quickly (which I doubt will happen), you can always reduce the temperature midway through baking. Hope that helps! So glad you like this one.

      Reply

  19. I substituted half the butter with applesauce, omitted the orange zest, subsituted 1/4 tsp. of the vanilla extract with almond extract, and added chopped almonds. So yummy!

    Reply

  20. This looks delicious! I would like to serve this at a Wedding Brunch that I am doing. Do you think I could bake it ahead of time, let it defrost in the fridge overnight and then bring it to room temperature in the morning and still have good result? Thanks!

    Reply

  22. How is this cake eaten cold? Like if I bake it the night before for a next morning gathering? And does it do well as muffins? Has anyone tried it with success?

    Reply

  23. I went ahead and made this last night for this mornings Sunday School class.

    It tasted great but seemed a little dry. Is that how it’s supposed to be? I doubled the recipe so maybe that’s why?

    Reply

    • Bummer! It’s possible that you overcooked it or just used too much flour — I should really include the weight of the flour to make the recipe more precise. Did you make any other changes to the recipe?

      Reply

  24. I want to make this for a potluck brunch we are having at work and really need to double the recipe. Is there anything different I should do to the recipe? Could I use a 9×13 pan or would 2 9×9’s instead?

    Reply

  25. I made this cake last night for a work holiday breakfast, but I ended up putting way too many cranberries in the batter, so the cake took about 55 minutes to bake. It did however develop a beautifully crispy top because of the sugar. To combat the tartness of the cranberries, I made an orange glaze using the juice of the orange I zested mixed with a cup of powdered sugar. It added even more delicious orange flavor that paired perfectly! I will definitely make this cake again but use less cranberries, and still make the tasty glaze! I’ve also made the blueberry version and love it too. Thanks for the delicious breakfast ideas!

    Reply

  26. I greatly enjoyed the blueberry version and I like the cranberry version just as much. I made the cake following the recipe and it was great. Today I made it as muffins, baking at 375 for 20 minutes. I used 4T butter and 1 cup buttermilk as I was trying to use up the buttermilk and make the recipe a bit healthier. Still turned out moist, tasty muffins. Thank you for a great recipe! Fresh cranberries are the best in baked goods. 🙂

    Reply

  29. I’m in the UK and would really like to make this recipe but only use digital scales. Could you please tell me what a cup of blueberries weigh? I’ve googled it and got three different answers.

    Reply

  30. This cake is lovely. I added 1/2 t baking soda because of the acid buttermilk, and it rose very well. Is that something you have considered? If so, in what amount? Thank you so much for the recipe, which I am sure I will make often.

    Reply

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