Your guests will not be able to resist this Christmas chocolate cake filled with cranberry compote and frosted with whipped chocolate ganache! This cake is a showstopper!
For another easy but gorgeous Christmas desserts take a look at my White Christmas Truffle Cake.
Exciting news! My first holiday cake of the season is here!
Chocolate Cake with Cranberries
This chocolate layer cake filled with cranberry and port compote is absolutely irresistible. Rich chocolate cake layers gently wrapped in whipped chocolate ganache, then decorated with sparkling cranberries.
It sounds somewhat complex but only on paper or should I say on screen…because in reality it’s astonishingly simple!
First let’s start with the chocolate cake itself.
How do I make a moist chocolate cake?
The recipe I use for the majority of my chocolate cake is the one I am sharing today. It’s the simplest of recipes that delivers the best results.
What makes this chocolate cake so simple is that it’s all made in one bowl. And what makes it so moist is vegetable oil and whole milk. Simple.
Just make sure you follow the recipe and bake it at the recommended temperature and don’t overbake it. Keeping cake in the oven longer than needed dries it out!
It’s important to master a basic chocolate recipe as you can use it in a variety of ways. Remember that a good chocolate cake is simply a blank canvas for so much more.
You can change up the fillings and the icing and come up with so many different cakes. Your friends and family will not stop praising you for your creativity!
Easy cake decorating ideas
For those of you who is comfortable with a piping bag, use it to your advantage as it always give a cake an air of sophistication and professionalism.
If you don’t like using a piping bag, there are hundreds of ideas for decoration that will make your cake look gorgeous!
- chocolate truffles like I did in my Black and White Cake
- edible gold leaf in Chocolate Truffle Cake
- berries and fruit in Frostbitten Raspberry Cake
- chocolate figurines in Malted Chocolate Cake
- flowers and dried rose petals in Naked Cake
- herbs in Rose Rhubarb Cake
- greenery and sprinkles in White Christmas Truffle Cake
For my Christmas Chocolate Cake I used sugared cranberries to add a festive touch. They are so easy and quick to make and they look gorgeous!
You can use leftover sugared cranberries to decorate your festive cocktails or as candy. My kids loved them!
More stunning chocolate cake recipes:
- Honeycomb Crunch Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Truffle Cake
- Malted Chocolate Cake
- Black and White Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Compote
Christmas Chocolate Cake with Cranberries
Ingredients
For the sugared cranberries
- ½ cup/50 g fresh cranberries
- ¼ cup/ 70 ml water
- ½ cup/ 50 g granulated sugar divided
For the cake
- 1 ¾ cup/220 g all purpose flour
- ¾ cup/90 g cocoa powder
- 2 cups/400 g granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs large
- 1 cup/250 ml whole milk
- ½ cup/125 ml vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
For the cranberry compote
- 2 ½ cups/300 g cranberries fresh or frozen
- ½ cup/ 100 g granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp Port
For the whipped ganache
- 16 oz/500g good quality dark chocolate chopped
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp/500ml heavy cream/double cream
Instructions
For the sugared cranberries
- Combine half the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Take off the heat and add the cranberries, shake the pan gently until the cranberries are well coated in the syrup. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and lay them out on a wire rack to dry for one hour. Then toss them with the remaining sugar.
For the cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C, butter and line 3 8"/20cm cake pans with parchment paper or spray with a cake release spray.
- Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until combined. In a separate bowl mix eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and beat with an electric mixer until well incorporated.
- Divide evenly among 3 pans and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Bake 2 layers together and then the third one later if your oven isn't big enough to fit three cake pans.
- Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove cakes from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
For the cranberry compote
- In a small saucepan combine the cranberries, sugar, water and port and cook on low heat until the mixture thickens and coats a spoon for about 10 minutes. Cool slightly and process in a food processor or blender until smooth. Set aside until needed. Alternatively, you can leave the cranberry compote chunky if you wish.
For the whipped ganache
- Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan but take it off the heat right before it boils and pour over chopped dark chocolate. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes then stir with a whisk until well blended.
- Let the ganache cool, then whip with an electric mixer until it's the consistency of a buttercream and paler in colour. (The ganache will not whip when it's still warm. It needs to be slightly chilled to whip properly.)
To assemble the cake
- Pipe a border of the whipped ganache around each cake layer and fill with the cranberry compote as shown in photos, stack on top of each other and cover the top and the sides with a thin layer of the whipped ganache. Let it chill for 15 minutes. Then cover with more ganache or pipe rosettes all over and decorate with sugared cranberries. Store the assembled cake in the refrigerator but take it out 30 minutes before serving to allow the cake and the ganache come to a room temperature for fuller flavour and desired consistency. * I used Wilton 1M closed star tip to decorate
Notes
Roselle says
This looks amazing! Could I half the recipe for both cake and frosting?
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Hi Roselle, theoretically yes but you just need to think through what cake pan you will bake it in. This recipe calls for 3X 8 inch pans, so if I halved it, I would bake it in one 9 inch pan and possibly split the sponge in half when it’s baked to frost it.
Pamela Milne says
This is the most moist chocolate cake I have ever made and everyone agreed it was delicious. However the sponges sunk in the middle ; what did I do wrong ?
vikalinka says
Hi Pamela, it might be that your oven runs too hot, most of them are very inaccurate. The cakes bake from the outside in and if the temperature is too high, they rise quickly and look done, but later fall in the middle because they aren’t actually cooked all the way through. I have an internal thermometer in my oven (very cheap on Amazon)to monitor temperature as mine is too low!
Anna says
Mine also sunk – twice. I have never had a problem baking cakes in our oven. Something else must be off. So disappointing – the base is the most important piece of the cake.
Agnes says
If i use 9 inch cake pans, how do you recommend i adjust the baking times? I only have 2 9inch pans but i still want to make this cake happen!
vikalinka says
I haven’t baked this cake in 2 9 inch pans, so I would set the oven to the recommended time and if not baked through start adding 5-7 minutes at a time and keep checking. Do let me know how it goes and I can add 9 inch pans to the recipe, Agnes.
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
I don’t think I’ve heard of cranberries with chocolate cake before! What a fantastic and festive idea that looks absolutely beautiful. This would be the perfect cake for any gathering over the festive period.
vikalinka says
Hahaha I am not sure there are many around but I thought it would be a winning combination and it is! Thanks Cat!
Lucy Parissi says
This cake is beautifully decorated Julia. It looks rich and inviting – perfect for the festive season ahead.
vikalinka says
Thank you, Lucy!!
Laura | Tutti Dolci says
Such a stunning cake, I love the cranberry compote and pretty sugared cranberries!
vikalinka says
Thanks so much, Laura!
Bev says
I love the decoration of this cake. It is so elegant and simplistic. The cranberries add such a great flavour for the holidays too!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Bev! Cranberries bring a nice sour note to otherwise sweet and rich cake!
Anna | Serving Dumplings says
this is such a stunning and decadent cake! it looks so festive and pretty. I love the combination of chocolate and cranberries
vikalinka says
The chocolate and cranberries counterbalance each other in a nice way!
Mayuri Patel says
OMG…such a delicious, luxurious, decadent cake. Perfect for the festive season or for any special occasion. Love the photos, just couldn’t stop drooling over them 🙂
vikalinka says
Thank you!! I love photography when everything is decorated for Christmas in the house!
Prajakta Sukhatme says
Such a decadent and luxurious looking cake. Love the idea of incorporating cranberries for festive looks. Great recipe!
vikalinka says
Thanks so much, Prajakta! It was a fun cake to create! 🙂
Nickki says
This is an absolutely stunning cake Julia! I love the contrast of colour between the deep dark chocolate and the sugared cranberries – so pretty. I made some of these cranberries today and I can’t wait to use them for decorating desserts!
vikalinka says
Thank you so much, Nickki! This cake was labour of love for sure! Those sugared cranberries are so gorgeous, aren’t they?!