White Chocolate Cranberry Pound Cake

Buttery rich pound cake with white chocolate in the batter and drizzled over the top! This White Chocolate Cranberry Pound Cake has fresh cranberries tucked inside and sugared cranberries all over the top for a gorgeously delicious holiday treat!

This is an ironic cake.

Let’s start with the fact that I don’t like white chocolate. I never use it for anything! Except I used to sell white chocolate raspberry cheesecakes to a local restaurant and obviously that called for white chocolate in the cheesecake batter. In my defense they loved that cake. And yeah, it was a good cake. But usually white chocolate is too sweet. Too fakey-tasting. It’s just too … too. I did make these cookies with white chocolate and macadamia nuts that are pretty great, but that’s usually where I draw the line with white chocolate.

This festive White Chocolate Cranberry Pound Cake is a lesson in making exceptions in a few ways though, because I also broke the butter rule.

In baking, in cooking, just in general, I am normally an all-butter girl all the way.

I made this cake with margarine. 😱

Yes, you can use margarine or butter

This cake was basically an experiment. I was tapping into the recipes of my grandma’s era that all called for “oleo”, when margarine was a fancy newfangled thing and was used in every recipe. Oleo has gone the way of green jello with marshmallows, and usually I’m good with that. But I wanted to try.

This is a poundcake recipe so yeah, butter will totally work. But! Margarine also produced rich, buttery results and a tender, moist crumb. I folded melted white chocolate into the batter which gives it a depth of flavor I am really into! It’s like I don’t even know me.

The fresh cranberries in the batter pop while the cake is baking, giving every single slice a a gorgeous jeweled cranberry red with just the right amount of tart to the sweet. I topped the cake with – gasp – white chocolate ganache and then mounded sugared cranberries all over that. It’s such a party cake! And the taste + texture is spot on.

White Chocolate Cranberry Pound Cake

A buttery delicious and festive looking pound cake recipe with white chocolate and fresh cranberries folded right in the batter. Topped with white chocolate ganache and sugared cranberries for holiday table perfection!

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Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Christmas desserts, holiday desserts, Yule desserts

Servings: 12

Calories: 693kcal

Author: Heather Tullos

Equipment

• Small Saucepan
• 10" Bundt Cake (Fluted Tube) Pan
• Hand Mixer

Ingredients

• 8 ounces white chocolate chopped
• 1 cup margarine or butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• For the Sugared Cranberries:
• 1 cup granulated sugar divided
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• For the White Chocolate Ganache:
• 8 ounces white chocolate chopped
• 2 teaspoons shortening

Instructions

• Melt the white chocolate over low to medium low heat — careful! It burns easily. I stir the whole time the chocolate is melting. Remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10″ bundt (fluted tube) pan.
• In a large bowl beat together the margarine and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then mix in the extracts. Gently fold in the white chocolate.
• In a smaller bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add it in thirds, alternating with the yogurt or sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
• Fold in the cranberries and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 50- 55 mins. Check for doneness with a pick inserted into the center. Let the cake cool before turning it out of the pan onto a plate.
• To make the Sugared Cranberries, add 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar and the 1/4 cup water to a small saucepan. Bring it to a simmer to let the sugar dissolve and then reduce the heat to low. Add the cranberries, stir to coat, and remove them from the heat. Use a slotted spoon to place them on a metal rack. Let them cool for a few minutes. Pour the remaining granulated sugar in a shallow dish. Roll the cranberries in the sugar one by one until each one is coated.
• To make the white chocolate ganache, melt the shortening over low to medium low heat. Stir in the chopped white chocolate. Continue stirring and let the chocolate melt over medium heat until smooth. Drizzle it over the top of the cake.
• Before the chocolate sets, stack the cranberries all over the top of the cake. Pile them up! You can dip a cranberry in the white chocolate to stack them and hold them in place.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 693kcal | Carbohydrates: 97g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 341mg | Potassium: 204mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 73g | Vitamin A: 788IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 135mg | Iron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Cake recipe adapted from Taste of Home’s White Chocolate Pound Cake Recipe