Lemon Cranberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache

Inspiration really is annoying sometimes. There are nights when it wakes me from a deep sleep and I have to incoherently mumble a voice note before I can dive back into slumber. Sometimes, however, inspiration is quick work. Like looking into the recesses of your deep freezer, expecting to find frozen raspberries, and instead finding a HUGE bag of frozen cranberries (thanks Mom!). And suddenly, what was supposed to be Lemon Raspberry Cake becomes Lemon Cranberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache. And you’re not sorry about that fact one bit. 😂

this recipe

That is exactly how this recipe came to be. Because I patently refused to return to the store. 😂

I am stunned by this cake in the absolute best way.

In this Blog Post:

About this Lemon Cranberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache

Simply put, she is outstanding. A brilliant lemon cake sponge is enhanced with the most delicious cranberry buttercream, and then you have a thick and luscious cranberry filling and topping to complete this positively piquant sensation. A white chocolate ganache adds a *peck* of sweetness to further balance the colorful sweet-tart flavor profiles of the lemons and cranberries.

I don’t know why God allowed me to be the one to develop this cake, but I am ever grateful that He trusted me to do it. This cake is a must for all of my upcoming holiday celebrations, and this might be my birthday cake forevermore.

I am IN LOVE.

Ingredients in this Lemon Cranberry Cake

Cake Flour: The flour in a cake recipe impacts the final texture of a cake in a big way. Flour is the primary ingredient that is responsible for the amount of structure and chew in your cakes, cookies, and breads. The higher the protein content in a particular type of flour, the more structure and chew in the final product. For this cake, I wanted a very soft, moist crumb, so I use cake flour here. My caveat: my fave “cake flour” is actually White Lily’s All-Purpose Flour, which has a similar protein content to most cake flours!

Baking Soda: This Lemon Cranberry Cake contains sour cream, which is naturally acidic, so baking soda is the proper leavening here.

Kosher Salt: Salt is very important in any dessert; it balances the sugar and keeps the dessert from becoming overly sweet. Salt is very important in this particular cake recipe, as it helps to balance both the sugar, cranberries and lemon in this recipe.

Cornstarch: This cake sponge has an almost ethereal crumb. That is because the cake flour has a lower protein than typical all-purpose flour, yes, but it is also because we added another ingredient whose only job was to tenderize the crumb even more. A big thank-you to cornstarch for understanding this important assignment.

Unsalted Butter: As usual, butter has a starring role in this cake! It gives wonderful special flavor, and also the creaming process creates the absolutely necessary air pockets that help this cake to rise. Additionally, the fats in the butter are needed to tenderize the powerhouse protein molecules in your cake flour and egg whites, giving it a marvelously moist, light crumb. This ingredient does a lot of work! Make sure that your butter is room temperature before you begin. I set my butter out for at least 1.5-two hours before baking time. Also, buy a LOT of butter for this recipe. 😂 Like, a lot A LOT. Between the cake and the buttercream, you’ll need it!

Neutral Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil adds additional moisture to this cake, and it also helps the cake stay moist longer. One tablespoon is more than enough to make sure that this beautifully moist cake stays that way. I love avocado oil for baking, but any vegetable oil will do.

Granulated Sugar: The sugar in this recipe adds a nice sweetness to this cake, and it also helps with caramelization (browning). Additionally, granulated sugar helps to balance the tartness from the lemon juice and lemon zest in this cake!

Lemon Zest: You’ll use the lemon zest and the vanilla beans to make lemon vanilla sugar for your cake. The technique of rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar releases the oils from the zest even better, which gives a big boost of lemon flavor.

Whole Vanilla Bean: This cake uses the beans from an entire vanilla bean pod. The amped-up vanilla flavor is necessary to help balance the sweetness from all of the sugar and the tartness of the lemon so I strongly recommend using this ingredient for this cake. If you don’t have access to a whole vanilla bean, you can sub a tablespoon of pure vanilla extract.

Eggs: The protein in the eggs adds structure to the cake, while the fatty yolk adds delicious flavor, and also tenderizes the proteins in the egg whites and the cake flour. It’s a true multi-tasker and I couldn’t love it more. ❤️

Sour Cream: I loved the final texture that sour cream lent to this cake. In a pinch, you can also use 250 g (1 c) of buttermilk. Subbing buttermilk will give you all of the tang that sour cream will; however, you’ll be sacrificing on the additional tendering properties of the sour cream, as buttermilk contains substantially less fat. (On that note, make sure to use full-fat sour cream for this recipe. 😊)

Lemon Juice: The cake calls for 63 grams (1/4 c) of freshly squeezed lemon juice, on top of the sour cream. The lemon juice and lemon zest combo means that you will never need to use lemon extract in this cake. Please don’t use the lemon juice in a bottle. It has additional preservatives that can impact the taste of the final product.

You’ll notice that there are not whole cranberries in this Lemon Cranberry Cake! That’s because I wanted to have a very clear cranberry presence in the cake, so I kept the two flavors from directly interacting with one another. I also wanted the slightly toothy cranberry texture of the cranberry filling to come shining through, and I found that baking whole cranberries did not meet this objective. If you’d like to add cranberries to this cake, however, you can fold in one cup of flour-covered cranberries at the end of the mixing time.

Beginners Start Here

If you’re new to baking, or if you want to learn how to do some of the more tricky baking techniques, here are a couple of super helpful articles from the BwB site that will help you get set up for success with this unbelievable Lemon Cranberry Cake.

• Meet Your Kitchen BFF–Your Digital Kitchen Scale!
• How to Cream Butter and Sugar (With New Video!)
• Baking 101: How to Measure Ingredients
• Knowing When to Stop a Technique
• Sifting: Quick Technique. Huge Impact.
• Three Tips for Amazing Home Cooks Who Want to be Amazing Bakers

These resources are super helpful to help you build consistency and confidence on your baking journey, and specifically with this special cake. Happy Reading!

Important Tools Used in this Lemon Cranberry Cake

I am so happy to announce that Begin with Butter has its own Amazon Storefront, where you can find all of the amazing equipment that I used in this special cake! Want even more specific links? Check out the recommendations, below.

I do get paid a commission when you purchase, but these are the tools that I use all the time in my own kitchen.

If you have these tools already, great! Think of this as a checklist to help you build the confidence that you’ll need to execute this recipe!

• My Favorite 8″ Layer Cake Pans
• Oven Thermometer
• Digital Food Scale
• KitchenAid Hand Mixer
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set
• OXO Spatula Set
• Sifter
• Fine Mesh Strainer
• Cake Decorating Turntable
• Cake Decorating Spatulas
• Cake Boards

This cake is a lot, BB, but it is absolutely worth it. If I can give you one piece of advice, it is this: practice before you need it for the big day! Every cake you make gets better when you practice it.

I hope this cake becomes one of your holiday staples! It will definitely be the showstopper that takes center stage for all of your dessert tables. Once you make it, tag me on Instagram @beginwithbutter so that I can shout out your success!

Until next time!

Lemon Cranberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache

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Indulge in the sweet and tangy flavors of my Lemon Cranberry Layer Cake, featuring moist lemon cake layers, a sweet-tart cranberry filling, creamy cranberry buttercream, and a rich white chocolate ganache. Perfect for special occasions or a delightful treat any time of the year!

• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: 18 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

For the Cake:

• 320 g (2.5 c) cake flour (White Lily all-purpose is my favorite for this cake)
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 227 g (1 c) butter, room temperature
• 2 tbsp neutral oil (I like avocado oil, but vegetable oil, canola oil, or even grapeseed oil work well too)
• 300 g (1.5 c) granulated sugar
• 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 vanilla bean pod or 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 227 g sour cream
• 63 g (1/4 c) freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the Cranberry Filling:

• 400 g (2 dry pints) cranberries
• 350 g (1.5 c) granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 3 tbsp cold water or orange liqueur (I used Triple Sec)
• 1.5 tbsp cornstarch

For the Cranberry Buttercream:

• 345 g (1.5 cups) butter, room temperature
• 660 g (6 c) confectioner’s sugar
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 tbsp cranberry filling
• 1–2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ~1 tbsp Red food coloring, optional (I opted out)

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

• 252 g (1.5 c) white chocolate
• 63 g (.25 c) heavy cream, lightly shaken

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Instructions

To Make the Cranberry Filling/Topping:

1. Place the cranberries, granulated, and kosher salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine.
2. Simmer the mixture over medium heat until the sugar begins to reduce and the cranberries are 50% softened.
3. Place the water/orange liqueur and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir to combine. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the cranberry mixture and increase the heat to medium high for one minute.
4. After about one minute (or when the mixture visibly starts to thicken(, remove 1 cup of the cranberry mixture from the pot into a small heatproof bowl.
5. Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the remaining cranberries in the pot. You’ll need to blend these completely in order to get a smooth filling.
6. Once you’ve blended the cranberries, place a fine mesh strainer over a second, medium-sized heatproof bowl. Carefully strain the blended cranberries through the fine mesh strainer to remove any cranberry seeds.
7. Place both the filling and the topping aside to cool completely.

To Make the Cake:

1. Set your oven to a true 325°F.  An oven thermometer is very useful to help you determine whether your oven is at the correct temperature.
2. Combine the sugar, vanilla beans (if using) and lemon zest in a medium bowl or deli cup.  Use your fingers to scrunch the combination together (or, alternatively, put the top on the deli cup and shake away!) until the mixture is combined.  The sugar will get clumpy from the release of the oils in the lemon zest, and that is a great thing!
3. Add the sour cream and lemon juice to a small bowl or deli cup.  Stir to combine.
4. Sift cake flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and kosher salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
5. Add room-temperature butter and oil to a large mixing bowl, or to the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix until combined.  Add the sugar/vanilla/lemon mixture and cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl regularly to ensure even mixing.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time.  Add the next egg only once the previous egg has been fully incorporated.
7. Add the pure vanilla extract (if using) and mix thoroughly to combine.  Scrape the bowl regularly to ensure even mixing.
8. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until nearly combined.
9. Add all of the sour cream/lemon juice mixture and mix until nearly combined.
10. Add the other half of the flour mixture and mix until nearly combined.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then gently fold the mixture together until it is fully combined.
11. Prep three 8” cake pans (I use butter and flour to do this).  Fill each cake pan with 1/3 of the batter.
12. Bake for 20-27 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 205°F in the center of the cakes.
13. Allow the cakes to cool on cooling racks for 5-7 minutes, then turn place the cakes onto cooling racks to finish cooling.

To Make the Cranberry Buttercream:

1. Place the room-temperature butter into a mixing bowl. Blend on medium speed until it is completely smooth. Scrape the bowl as needed to make sure that all of the butter is getting equally smooth.
2. Add the fine sea salt and about one cup of the confectioner’s sugar to the butter. Mix on lowest speed until the confectioner’s sugar is completely incorporated, then mix on medium speed for about ten seconds.
3. Add another cup of the confectioner’s sugar to the mix. Mix on lowest speed until the confectioner’s sugar is completely incorporated, then mix on medium speed for about ten seconds. After this confectioner’s sugar addition, scrape your bowl thoroughly to ensure that all of the butter and confectioner’s sugar is incorporated before going onto the next step.
4. Repeat step three, then add four tablespoons of the cranberry filling mixture, the pure vanilla extract, and one tablespoon of heavy cream to the frosting. Mix on low speed until the liquids are combined, then mix on medium speed for about ten seconds.
5. Repeat step 3 until you’ve finished adding the confectioner’s sugar. After all of the confectioner’s sugar has been added, mix on medium-high speed for about two minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary to make sure that everything gets mixed in equally. At this point, check the texture of the buttercream. The final buttercream should be smooth but pipeable, and it should not be difficult to move your spatula through the buttercream.

To Make the White Chocolate Ganache:

1. Place the white chocolate chips into a medium-sized heat proof bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan on medium heat just until you begin to see heat waves over the top of the heavy cream. You don’t want it to boil!
3. Pour the heavy cream over the white chocolate chips and tightly cover with plastic wrap.
4. Wait for 5-7 minutes, then gently stir the mixture together. The mixture will gradually smooth out as you stir; however, don’t stir too aggressively or you’ll create bubbles in your ganache.
5. Once smooth, allow the ganache to cool for 5-7 minutes before placing it into a squeeze bottle and creating your ganache drip down the size. This recipe makes plenty of ganache, so you can cover the entire cake with the ganache, or you can drizzle around the sides of the cake. Additionally, you can drizzle ganache over pieces of the cake after cutting!

To Build the Cake:

1. Place a 10” cake board on a decorating turntable. Place a small pat of cranberry buttercream on the cake board, then place the first cake layer on the center of the cake board.
2. Atop the first cake layer, smooth 2-3 ice cream scoops of cranberry buttercream. Use a spatula to evenly spread the buttercream, then create a circular “moat” about 1.5” from the edges of the cake. Place cranberry filling into the center of the cake, then smooth towards the inner edge of the buttercream moat.
3. Gently place the next cake layer on top of the first. Check to make sure that the cake layer is level, then repeat step 2.
4. Invert the third layer to make sure that there’s a level top layer, and place the upside-down layer atop the other two layers. Place a small amount of buttercream on top of the final layer, evenly spread the buttercream around the sides of the cake. This is the crumb coat of your cake.
5. For smooth buttercream, place the crumb coated cake into the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. Allow the rest of the buttercream to remain at room temperature while the crumb coat stiffens onto the cake.
6. Place a generous amount of buttercream directly onto the sides of the cake. Using a decorating spatula, begin to smooth the buttercream. As you go around the cake, buttercream will come off; this is normal! You’ve added much more than you need.
7. Finish smoothing with a cake smoother, turning the cake several times to get the smoothest buttercream possible.
8. Place the remaining buttercream in a piping bag and set aside,
9. Place the white chocolate ganache over the sides of the cake. There is plenty of ganache, so you can either coat the entire cake with a white chocolate ganache layer, or you can just drizzle it over the sides.
10. Once the white chocolate ganache is on the cake, allow it to set for 10-15 minutes. Then, pipe the buttercream butter around the edge of the cake.
11. Finish the cake by gently filling in the border with the cranberry topping. Enjoy!

• Author: Shani
• Prep Time: 2 hours (active)
• Cook Time: 20-27 minutes
• Category: Dessert