Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Fluffy, white, from-scratch Cranberry Upside Down Cake recipe has chopped pecans and a simple powdered sugar glaze. This makes an easy holiday breakfast or dessert!

Cranberry Upside Down Cake Recipe

If you’re crazy about pineapple upside down cake, why not give this from-scratch Cranberry Upside Down Cake a try? Although the cake is from scratch, you’ll find that the cake batter is easy to mix up and ends in a fluffy, delicious cake with a tender crumb.

How to Make Upside Down Cake

Upside down cakes are easier than you think. This recipe starts with canned whole cranberry sauce with a touch of sugar and lemon juice. You’ll mix in some pecans for crunch and pour this mix into the bottom of an 8×8 pan.

Mixing the batter comes next! Combine the basic ingredients and beat until the mix is well blended. Then spoon or pour this over the cranberry mixture. Spread it to cover the cranberry sauce and it’s ready for the oven. Easy as that!

Your cake should come out looking like this:

How to Serve the Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes in the pan before inverting it onto a serving plate. Once you do that, the pretty red cranberries make their appearance and shine through with Christmas beauty!

I like to do a simple powdered sugar glaze on top of the cake along with a sprinkling of chopped pecans. This glaze helps to break up the red color and make it look more Christmasy.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream when you are ready to serve it. You could easily serve it with ice cream too!

Serve this easy holiday cake recipe for breakfast with a cup of coffee or for a sweet treat after dinner.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

4.80 from 5 votes

Fluffy, white, from-scratch Cranberry Upside Down Cake recipe has chopped pecans and a simple powdered sugar glaze. This makes an easy breakfast or dessert!

Servings 9

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

 

For the Cranberry Sauce:

• 14 ounces whole cranberry sauce
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tablespoon butter

For the Cake:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg

For the Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

 

For the Cranberry Sauce:

• Generously grease the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan.
• In a small bowl, combine the cranberry sauce, sugar, lemon juice and pecans. Mix well.
• Pour the cranberry mix into the prepared pan the dot it with butter. Set aside.

For the Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, butter, milk and egg. Blend at low speed, then beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Pour the batter over the topping in the prepared pan and spread to cover.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top center springs back when you touch it.
• Cool for 30 minutes, then invert the cake to a serving plate.

For the Glaze:

• In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
• Top with additional pecans if desired.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Video

Notes

The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 9 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.

Nutrition

Calories: 387kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 229mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 54g | Vitamin A: 320IU | Vitamin C: 1.6mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1.1mg

Author Julie Clark

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Calories 387

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