this post brought to you in paid partnership with crisco®. all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The holiday season is upon us, which means I’ve teamed up again with my friends at Crisco® to bring you a delightful and delicious recipe for your holiday festivities!

This year I’m so excited to be sharing this Cranberry Layer Cake. I had the idea for this cake around Christmastime last year. I wanted to make a completely pink cranberry-flavored cake with pink cranberry frosting. All pink.

I originally used a can of cranberry jelly because I’d hope it would be an easy way to add a lot of cranberry flavor without having to do a ton of work (the holidays are busy and sometimes stressful, as we know!), but oddly the flavor was almost nonexistent! It was a brownish-pink color and didn’t really taste like much of anything. I didn’t have time to continue working on the recipe then, so I’m glad I got to take another stab (slice?) at it again this year.

And oh my gosh, this Cranberry Layer Cake is a million times better than my previous attempt. There’s cranberry in the cake, the filling, and the frosting. The flavor is so much better. One bite and I thought, oh there are the cranberries! And it’s so pink. Naturally pink! No food coloring needed. It makes me so happy. And hopefully if you give this cake a try, it’ll bring some holiday happiness to you too.

A New and Improved Cranberry Layer Cake

I made a few changes to this recipe that really helped. First and foremost, we’re using Crisco! Specifically, the Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening baking sticks in the butter flavor for the cake itself. This means the cake layers have a light and fluffy crumb while still having plenty of structure. The cake itself is like a soft pink pillow. It is the perfect canvas for swoops of dreamy cranberry buttercream.

I always use a combination of butter and Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening in my frostings anyways (which I learned when I worked at a bakery), and I love that I can always count on that combination to produce a really creamy and delicious frosting. Another reason why I like to use a combination of butter and the classic shortening sticks (the white ones, not butter-flavored) for frosting is because it means less butter flavor and more room for other flavors to shine through.

For example, once I made a coconut cake for a friend’s birthday and I didn’t have any shortening, so I made an all-butter coconut buttercream. When we took the cake out of the box, someone remarked that there was just an overwhelming scent of butter. That didn’t sound that bad to me. It’s buttercream, you know? But for someone who isn’t used to being surrounded by baking smells, maybe it was a lot. A combination of butter and shortening, though, means you still have the perfect base for a frosting, but it’s also easier for other flavors to shine through.

Homemade Cranberry Jelly

The second thing I did that really helped this cake was to make a homemade cranberry jelly. I wanted to avoid this initially because while I don’t think it’s too difficult to make, it just adds more steps, and I wanted this to be a very approachable cake to make when you’re also potentially preparing entrees and sides for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Whether you’re hosting guests and family or taking dessert to a holiday party, a really involved and complicated recipe is not always the answer!

How to Make the Easy Homemade Cranberry Jelly

But I made this homemade cranberry jelly as simply as I could! And I advise you to make it a day or two in advance because it will need to chill in the fridge overnight anyway.

First, you’ll add cranberries and water to a blender or food processor to make a puree, and then combine it with sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in a large saucepan. After that, all you really need to do is babysit it while it cooks on the stove. You only need to stir it every few minutes, not constantly, so that it can cook and thicken up. Once it’s thick enough to coat a wooden spoon or silicone spatula without falling off back into the pot, it’s done! You can press the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds if you like (I did), but that’s optional. Then it just chills in the fridge and will thicken up even more.

You only need one 12-oz bag of fresh or frozen cranberries, and it will make about two cups of cranberry jelly. This goes into the cake batter, the frosting, and is also spread between the cake layers for even more cranberry goodness in each bite.

The Perfect Cake for the Holidays

I love this cake for the holidays because you can really make it for any kind of party or occasion, from Thanksgiving to Christmas to any other holidays you celebrate this time of the year. Cranberries are a fun seasonal flavor that I haven’t baked with a lot myself, so it was fun to take something like that and really lean into it.

The cake and frosting are very simple and straight forward, and with quality ingredients like Crisco, you know it’s all going to turn out just like it’s supposed to! Cakes turn out fluffy and soft with the best texture, and frostings come out creamy and sturdy enough for piping decorations.

In Conclusion

There are three components to this cake, but I think it’s a great option if you’re going for something that isn’t too labor intensive that also still gives off an elegant and impressive presentation. And with sugared cranberries and rosemary on top, it’s just festive!

So make sure to pick up some Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening for all your holiday baking needs, and I hope you’ll give this Cranberry Layer Cake a try this holiday season!

print this recipe pin on pinterest ·

Cranberry Layer Cake

This festive cake is filled with cranberry flavor thanks to a homemade cranberry jelly that goes into the cake batter and the frosting.

Prep Time: 1 30

Cook Time: 45

Cool time: 6

Total Time: 8 15

Servings: 12

Ingredients

Cranberry Filling:

1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries
1 cup water plus 2 tbsp, divided
Juice of 2 navel oranges
1 tbsp orange zest
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp Clabber Girl Corn Starch

Cranberry Cake:

¾ cup Crisco All-Vegetable Butter Shortening (Butter Flavored)
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup homemade cranberry jelly at room temperature
4 large egg whites at room temperature
1 tsp Spice Islands Pure Vanilla Extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp Clabber Girl Baking Powder
¼ tsp Spice Islands Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp salt
¾ cup whole milk at room temperature

Cranberry Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup 1 stick Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening
1 tsp Spice Islands Pure Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp heavy cream
½ cup homemade cranberry jelly
4 ½ cups powdered sugar

Garnishes:

Sugared cranberries
Sugared rosemary

Instructions

To make the filling:

Combine cranberries and 1 cup water in a blender or food processor. Blend until completely smooth. Press mixture through a fine mesh sieve if desired; discard seeds and solids.
Combine pureed cranberry mixture, orange zest, orange juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan. In a separate small bowl, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and whisk until combined.
Cook over medium heat until thickened and mixture bubbles, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Let the cranberry filling cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a bowl. Cover the filing with plastic wrap, pressing so that it touches the surface of the filling. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
You should have about 2 cups of cranberry jelly. The cake layers will use 1 cup, the frosting will have ½ cup, and the remaining ½ cup will be used between the cake layers.
You can make this cranberry jelly 1-2 days in advance and store covered in the refrigerator.

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with an electric mixer), cream shortening and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
Add homemade cranberry filling and vanilla extract; mix well. Add egg whites and mix until combined.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of milk; mix until ingredients are just incorporated. Repeat with second half of flour and milk. Mix well until combined.
Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until cakes are and set in the center. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center of each cake layer. If it comes out clean or with one or two crumbs, they’re done.
Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting:

Cream butter on medium speed with an electric mixer. With mixer running, add shortening in chunks.
Add cranberry filling, vanilla, and cream. Mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Repeat with second half of powdered sugar and mix for 1 minute.

Assembly:

When cakes are cool, use a serrated knife to remove domed cake tops if necessary to create level cake layers.
Place one cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the top and then pipe a border around the top of the cake layer. Spread ½ cup cranberry jelly inside the frosting border.
Place the second cake layer on top, with the leveled top facing down. This way the bottom of the cake layer is facing up and it creates a nice and flat top for the cake.
Cover the cake in a thin crumb coat of frosting and then refrigerate for 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and cover with remaining frosting, adding piped decorations if desired.
Store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Garnish with sugar cranberries and sugar rosemary just before serving.