Christmas
by: Erin Jeanne McDowell
December13,2018
3.8
4 Ratings
- Prep time 1 hour 10 minutes
- Cook time 1 hour 45 minutes
- Makes one big 3-tiered cake
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
This cake makes use of one of my favorite cake pans ever made: the 3-tiered Bundt set. Armed with these pans, anyone can make an impressive tiered cake with ease. I treated myself to an early holiday gift of these pans and promptly used them to bake a gingerbread pound cake finished with a drippy eggnog glaze and plenty of tart candied cranberries for a little bonus festive flair. —Erin Jeanne McDowell
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: 3 Showstopping Holiday Cakes That Taste As Good As They Look. —The Editors
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Cake for large tier
- 9 ounces(255 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups(447 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large (170 g) eggs
- 3 3/4 cups(452 g) all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoonsground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoonground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoonground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoonfine sea salt
- 1 teaspoonbaking powder
- 1/2 teaspoonbaking soda
- 3/4 cup(255 g) molasses (not blackstrap)
- 1 1/2 cups(340 g) buttermilk
- Cake for medium and small tiers
- 6 ounces(170 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups(298 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large (113 g) eggs
- 2 1/2 cups(301 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoonsground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoonground cinnamon
- 1/3 teaspoonground cloves
- 1/3 teaspoonground nutmeg
- 1/3 teaspoonfine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoonbaking soda
- 1/2 teaspoonbaking powder
- 1/2 cup(170 g) molasses (not blackstrap
- 1 cup(227 g) buttermilk
- Candied cranberries
- 1 cup(198 g) granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup(113 g) water
- 10 ounces(283 g) fresh cranberries
- Eggnog glaze
- 2 1/2 cups(283 g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup(60 g) eggnog, plus more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoonvanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoonfreshly grated nutmeg
- pinch fine sea salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the three Bundt pans with nonstick spray.
- Make the large Bundt cake tier: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to combine. Add about ⅓ of this mixture to the mixer and mix to combine.
- In a liquid measuring cup, stir the molasses and buttermilk to combine. Add about ½ of this mixture to the mixer and mix to combine. Repeat, alternating the wet and dry ingredients, until they are all incorporated and the batter is smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared large bundt pan (fill about ¾ way full or the cake will overflow—if you have excess batter, save it to combine with the next batch of batter) and spread into an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.
- Make the medium and small bundt cake tiers: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to combine. Add about ⅓ of this mixture to the mixer and mix to combine.
- In a liquid measuring cup, stir the molasses and buttermilk to combine. Add about ½ of this mixture to the mixer and mix to combine. Repeat, alternating the wet and dry ingredients, until they are all incorporated and the batter is smooth. (If you had excess batter from the first batch, stir it into the new batter now.)
- Divide the batter between the prepared medium and small Bundt pans (fill about ¾ way full or the cake will overflow) and spread into an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean, 40-45 minutes for the medium tier, and 30-35 minutes for the small tier.
- As the cakes begin to come out of the oven, let each one cool in it’s pan for 15 minutes, then unmold onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the candied cranberries: in a medium pot, bring ½ cup (99 g) sugar and the water to a boil over medium heat—stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Place the remaining sugar in a medium shallow bowl.
- Add the cranberries to the pot and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. The cranberries should remain whole, not burst. Drain the cranberries from the syrup with a slotted spoon, and add to the sugar. Toss until each cranberry is well coated in sugar. Set aside.
- Make the eggnog glaze: in a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar and eggnog to combine to make a thick glaze—add more eggnog a tablespoon at a time to achieve the desired consistency. Whisk in the vanilla, nutmeg, and salt.
- To assemble the cake, place the large tier on a platter or cake stand. Stack the medium tier on top of it, then the small tier on top of that. Apply the glaze to the top of the cake with a spoon, allowing it to drip down the sides. Decorate with candied cranberries and herbs as desired.
Tags:
- Cake
- Bundt Cake
- American
- Christmas
- Winter
- Holiday
- Dessert
See what other Food52ers are saying.
I always have three kinds of hot sauce in my purse. I have a soft spot for making people their favorite dessert, especially if it's wrapped in a pastry crust. My newest cookbook, Savory Baking, came out in Fall of 2022 - is full of recipes to translate a love of baking into recipes for breakfast, dinner, and everything in between!
