Cranberry Buckle

This Cranberry Buckle is a simple, but fabulous cake with a tender crumb, juicy tart cranberries throughout, and a crisp streusel topping. Perfect served with a cup of coffee in the morning or an easy after-dinner dessert.

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Total Time1 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: coffee cake recipe, cranberry buckle, cranberry cake, cranberry recipes

Servings:

Ingredients

FOR THE TOPPING

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cold butter , cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

FOR THE CAKE

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons shortening
2 tablespoons butter , softened
1 egg
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour , spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 & 3/4 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen, see note)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8-inch pan.
For the topping: Using a fork, pastry blender, or your hands, combine all the ingredients until you have pea size crumbs. Place in the fridge while you make the cake batter.
For the cake: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, shortening, and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, orange zest, and vanilla until combined, smooth, and fluffy.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into the butter/shortening mixture, alternating with milk, mixing until just combined. (Batter will be thick.)
Fold in the cranberries, then spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Remove topping from the refrigerator and break it up into tiny pieces, then sprinkle evenly over the cake batter.
Transfer pan to the preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Cut into squares and enjoy!

Notes

Using frozen berries. If using frozen berries, do not thaw them first to avoid discoloring the batter, and gently fold them in. You'll likely need to increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes, but don't over bake or the cake will be dry. Watch the cake and tent with foil if the topping is over-browning.

Make the streusel topping first and chill. Prepare the streusel and place it in the fridge, while you make the cake batter. Chilling it, then breaking it into pea size crumbles will result in a nice crunchy topping.

Use butter and shortening. A 50/50 ratio of butter and shortening will produce the most tender, soft crumb.

Don’t over-work the batter. This is a dense cake where the batter doesn’t rise very much, but it should still be moist and tender. Over-working the batter will make it even more dense.

Make muffins instead. Instructions included in the full article for doubling this recipe or converting into muffins.

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