I started writing this post 3 times and never made it through the food coma of luscious food throughout the holiday season. It’s all now passed and I made this cake weeks ago for a Holiday brunch so a bit too late to make this for Christmas but it’s a wonderfully light and airy cake with a sweet and tart fruit filling that can really be enjoyed all year round!
Did you know fresh cranberries are extremely tart? Tart off the hook, can’t keep a straight face while eating kind of tart? I made a version of cranberry cake that used real cranberries throughout the batter but I didn’t realize how tart fresh cranberries were even baked and my husband could not keep a straight face. So, second time try – this cake is delicious and no fish faces while eating it! The cranberry and cherry filling make for a sweet and ever so slightly tart combination with a light whipped cream icing with just a hint of orange that goes well with the cranberry flavor. I’ll probably go ahead and make this again soon since I have some of the ingredients left!
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6 inch 3 layer cake
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Ingredients
Genoise Cake
- 3 eggs whites and yolk separated, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar for yolk
- 5 3/4 Tbsp (70 g) granulated white sugar equivalent to 1/4 cup plus 1 3/4 Tbsp of sugar - for egg whites
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup plus 1 1/3 Tbsp (100 g) cake flour sifted
- 2 Tbsp (30 g) butter melted but not hot
- 2 Tbsp (30 g) milk
Cranberry Filling
- 6 oz (weight) (170 g) cherry preserves
- 3/8 cup (75 g) granulated white sugar
- 2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 1/2 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup cranberries
Whipped Cream
- 500 ml heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar
- 3 T fresh orange juice
- optional: zest 1/4th orange for a stronger orange flavor
Ingredients
Genoise Cake
Cranberry Filling
Whipped Cream
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Instructions
Genoise Cake
- Preheat oven to 340 degrees. Separate the egg white and yolk.
- Add the egg whites to a bowl and mix on low-medium speed with a hand or stand mixer. Once the mixture begins to bubble and whip, add in the sugar for the egg whites and mix on high speed until medium peaks form. *When you hold up the egg whites, it should maintain its shape with the tip of the peak curling over just slightly when the beaters are lifted.
- Add sugar to the yolk and mix on medium speed with a hand mixer until the batter becomes an ivory yellow and reaches the "ribbon stage"*. Mix in the vanilla extract until combined thoroughly. *This is when the lifting a whisk from the batter will slowly form a ribbon.
- Add half of the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture and mix carefully with a spatula. Do not let the egg whites deflate. Sift in 1/2 of the cake flour into the mixture. Mix carefully until just combined.
- Add in the last half of the egg white mixture into the batter and mix carefully with a spatula again. Sift in 1/2 of the cake flour into the mixture. Mix carefully until just combined.
- Add together the melted butter and milk. Pour this mixture to the sides of the batter bowl. Mix the liquid well but carefully with the batter. Move the spatula in circles around the bowl carefully. Do not deflate the batter by over mixing!
- Pour the batter into a 6 inch cake pan. Raise and drop the cake pan on to a table so that any bubbles will be taken out. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden.
- Cool in pan for about 5 minutes. Pound the pan about 2 times. Remove cake and cool it inverted on a wire rack.
Cranberry Filling
- In a medium saucepan, bring cherry preserves, granulated white sugar, orange juice and 1 1/2 cup cranberries to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir often as it boils for about 5 - 6 minutes or until cranberries begin to pop.
- Pour about 1/2 cup of the cranberry mixture to a medium sized bowl and stir in remaining 1/4 cup cranberries. This will be the top filling.
- Pour remaining cranberry mixture into a bowl. Cool both bowls completely. This will be for the filling in between the cake layers. Cover and chill both bowls for 4 hours or more.
Whipped Cream
- * Make the whipped cream before assembly after the filling has cooled.
- Whip heavy cream and sugar until medium-stiff peaks form. Add in orange juice and whip until stiff peaks form. If using, whip in orange zest.
Assemble
- Cut the cake into thirds. Put whipped cream into a piper (or zip lock bag). With bottom layer of cake, pipe a ring of whipped cream on the edges of the cake. Add in the filling to the center of the cake and spread evenly. Top with second cake layer. Repeat with ring of cream and center filling.
- Top with third layer of cake. Spread whipped cream along the sides of the cake. Spread a thin layer of icing on top of the cake. Pipe a ring of whipped cream around top cake layer just inside the top edge. Spread cranberry topping (with whole berries) over top layer cake layer.
Recipe Notes
The cranberry filling is from Southern Living. But a different cake and whipped cream frosting is used. Enjoy!
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