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Chocolate Cranberry Cake is so moist, tender, and studded with chocolate and cranberries! A perfect cake for the holiday season that is super flavorful because of a secret ingredient. You have to give it a try!
This Chocolate Cranberry Cake is perfect for the season of entertaining! It is easy to make, looks pretty and tastes delicious. This cake is adapted from my Dark Chocolate Red Wine Cake that is one of the easiest and best-tasting cakes you will ever make but this cake today is studded with Cranberries and has a sweet glaze on top for a twist!
Red Wine is the secret ingredient in this cake that makes it so flavorful. It might sound weird but adding wine to the batter is something you definitely have to try! Chocolate and red wine go so well together, they are a match made in heaven, and adding cranberries to the mix takes this cake to a whole new level of deliciousness.
I love to bake with red wine, it makes the cake taste super delicious. You get all the flavor without the headache. Even if you’re not a big red wine fan (I prefer white wine) you’ll love this cranberry chocolate cake!
How to make a Cranberry Bundt Cake – Tips and Tricks
- The secret to the tenderness of this cake is creaming the butter and sugar together! By creaming them together the mixture changes color and texture – it will get fluffy and pale. Don’t skip this step! I recommend using a stand mixer for this.
- The choice of wine is also important – my rule is: I bake and cook only with wines which I would also serve guests. Wines that taste like vinegar which you wouldn’t drink shouldn’t be used for baking or cooking! But you can use any type of red wine for this cake. Don’t substitute white or rose wine!
- If you can’t drink alcohol this recipe might not be for you. But you could try using the same amount of milk instead of red wine.
Looking for more Holiday Cakes?
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
- Gingerbread Cake Recipe
- Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe
Tools used for making this Cranberry Chocolate Cake Recipe
Bundt Pan: I use a 9.5-inch bundt pan with 10 cups capacity for my bundt cake recipes.
Cinnamon: I go through so much cinnamon this time of the year so I bought this one to always have it on hand!
Dried Cranberries: These are the ones I like to use!
Chocolate Chips: According to America’s Test Kitchen these are the best chocolate chips!
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Chocolate Cranberry Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, (230g)
- 1 cup granulated Sugar, (200g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of Salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, (250g)
- 3 tsp Baking powder
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup Red wine, (180ml)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries, (50g)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, (100g)
For the Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, (125g)
- 3 Tbsp red wine, or cranberry juice
- 3 Tbsp dried cranberries
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and flour a 9.5-inch (10-cup) bundt pan. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder together until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and cinnamon on medium to high speed 8 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides with a spatula as needed.
- On medium speed, beat in one egg at a time - mix for 30 seconds after each egg. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture, the red wine, the dried cranberries and the chocolate - mixing each addition just until incorporated. Avoid overmixing, but whisk out any big lumps.
- Pour batter into your prepared bundt pan. Bake for around 50 minutes or until the cake is baked through. All ovens are different and your cake could take a little more or less time. To test for doneness, insert a skewer into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean with only a couple moist but not wet crumbs, it's done. Let the cake sit in the pan for 15 minutes then transfer it to a wire rack.
- The cake must be completely cool before glazing.
- Make the red wine glaze: In a small bowl mix together the powdered sugar and 2-3 tbsp Red Wine. Glaze the cake with the mixture and decorate it with dried cranberries.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Questions from a novice baker: Does this need to be refrigerated once fully glazed? I only ask as I don’t have any storage currently that fits a bundt cake and fits in the fridge, so if it’s fine, I would simply wrap it up in foil or something similar to store at room temperature for the few days it may last.
I know the red wine is a major theme of this recipe, but (forgive me!) do you think cranberry juice can be used in its place in the dough? I have baked with orange juice, but not sure about cranberry juice. Perhaps it’s best to just use your suggestion of milk as the substitute?
I can’t really say if cranberry juice would work without testing it, sorry! The cake can sit at room temperature for a few days.
Excellent! Thanks for sharing :)
It tastes amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Best for Christmas time!
Hi julia!
Your recipe looks great and can’t wait to try it for my family Christmas party this weekend :)
Just to check would it be okay for me to bake the cake a day before hand? Is there any things I should take note in terms of storage for the cake? Or should I only put on the glaze on the actual day? Thanks and would love your advice
You can definitely bake it one day in advance. If you have one of those cake transport boxes, those are best for storing cakes like this in. Otherwise, just let it sit overnight at room temperature, don’t but it in the fridge. I would put on the glaze on the actual day. Hope this helps!
Sounds like it might be a new favorite. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, what a beautiful cake – I bet it smells amazing. I love your blog and your photographs!
Thank you so much, Ahu! You’re so sweet :-)
Wow – never thought about using red wine in baking! What a really pretty cake!
Thank you, Tracy!
This sounds and looks amazing! I’m going to have to try a dairy-free/vegan version of it. Thanks for sharing :)