Cranberry Almond Cake with Almond Streusel

I try to eat seasonally. There is one thing I wait for in late fall and early winter – cranberries.  I usually stock up when they go on sale, and throw the bags of cranberries in the freezer, where they will keep for months & I can indulge all year.  And while I only use a couple bags for cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I love cranberries in bread, cake, and coffee cake, and all other desserts.

cranberry benefits

Cranberries offer a multitude of health benefits.  They are high in antioxidants, as well often being used to treat urinary infections.  Other possible benefits are a role in cancer prevention, lower blood pressure, and lower blood pressure.  they are a native fruit from North American,  one that Native American used and taught the Europeans how to cook with.  They are a super food, full of vitamins and nutrients. No wonder I like them.

raw cranberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

baking with cranberries

I have a great cranberry nut bread recipe that I often make, but this year I am craving an almond-cranberry combination.  So I did what I always do – I peruse recipes on line and Pinterest to see what peaks my interest and get ideas.

I decided on a cake with streusel topping.  Almost like a coffee cake.  I loosely based mine on a recipe at The Daring Gourmet .   Thank you, Kimberly, for the ideas.  I made a number of modifications – more cranberries than the original recipe, yogurt instead of sour cream, added sliced almonds and almond flour, as well as ground flax seed.  And since my springform pans are packed up for moving, I just greased a glass pie pan well and used that.

cake batter in pie pan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sprinkled with streusel topping

I used all purpose white flour, but I think next time I would sub in half spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour to up the healthy benefits.  The batter totally filled up my pie plate, to overflowing, so you need a 9 or 10″ springform pan.  Even a 9 x 13 baking dish would work.  The only advantage of a springform pan removes the sides, making it easier to slice, and pretty to look at.

This cake can be breakfast, brunch, a snack or dessert.  I haven’t tried it with a scoop of ice cream, but I bet it would be great!  Even better, do what my mom did with cake that was “getting old” (meaning we didn’t eat it all in the first go round) – make pudding or a thin custard sauce, and serve warm over a slice of cake.

cranberry almond cake with almond streusel topping

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Cranberry Almond Cake with Almond Streusel

A cranberry packed cake that's easy to put together. It works for a quick breakfast or snack, on a brunch table, or for dessert dressed up with ice cream, whipped cream, or powdered sugar.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword brunch, coffee cake, cranberry cake, dessert cake, snack cake
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 52 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 12 minutes

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1 tsp orange peel
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups flour white or spelt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup yogurt
  • 1/3 cup fine almond flour
  • 1 12 oz bag cranberries

Streusel topping

  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp almond flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp slivered or sliced almonds
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg, grated fresh

Instructions

Cake batter

  1. Preheat oven to 325F ( for glass pie plate) or 350F (for metal pans).  Greases your pan well with butter or cooking spray.

  2. in the bowl of a stand mixer (or can be done with a hand mixer if you choose) beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamed together - 3-4 minutes. 

  3. while the butter is being whipped up, mix together the dry ingredients in another bowl - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

  4. When the butter is ready, add the eggs, one at a time.  Scrape down bowl as needed to make sure the butter is incorporated.  Add the vanilla extract, orange peel and yogurt.  Mix well.

  5. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients. it will be a very thick dough.  Pour in the cranberries and mix slightly.  Then remove the bowl from the mixer and finish folding in the cranberries by hand.  It is going to look like more berries than dough.  Spread into your prepared baking pan.

Streusel toping

  1. to make the streusel, combine the sugar, almond flour, white flour and almonds in a small bowl.  Pour in the butter and mix well with a fork.

  2. Using your fingers, drop small pieces of the streusel mix over the cake batter.  There will not be enough to totally cover the top, just distribute evenly.  Grate bit bit of fresh nutmeg over the top. 

  3. Bake 50-55 minutes until a pick comes our clean.  Let cool at least 30 minutes.  If using a spring form pan, remove the side and let it finish cooling.

  4. If desired, make a sugar icing and drizzle over the cake, sprinkle with sugar, or leave plain and serve with ice cream.  Or make a thin custard sauce, with notes od almond extract and nutmeg, and serve over a slice of cake.

cranberry cake fresh out of the oven