Paleo Cranberry Cake

Paleo Cranberry Cake with a butter sauce is a modernized, allergen-friendly version of my grandmother’s classic cranberry cake, complete with sweet sauce for glazing, drizzling, or dolloping! Updated to include monkfruit sweetener, this paleo cake recipe is a delicious blend of sweet and tart flavors! And it’s beautiful, to boot! {Paleo + Vegan}

Spiriteds, I don’t even know where to start with this recipe. The part where I share this is an updated, allergen-friendly version of The Gram’s classic cranberry cake with butter sauce recipe? Or the part where I glom on about how tart cranberries baked in a sweet cake and then topped with a dairy-free sauce is my new favorite jam? 

Decisions, decisions. 

Rather than choose, let’s talk about both! First, let’s start with The Gram. I distinctly remember making this recipe with her when I was a child. We’d stand at the kitchen peninsula, selecting only the best cranberries from the bunch and meticulously slice them in half. She insisted we use only the best ones. “If they’re mushy,” she’d tell me, “they don’t bake well. We don’t want that in our cake.”

Now let’s talk about the flavor! When I was a child, I didn’t like cranberries. But I enjoyed this cranberry cake recipe because the cake was sweet and the sauce offset the tartness. The Gram insisted the cake didn’t work without the topping. “Oh, you mustn’t eat that without the sauce! Here, let me pour some on your slice.” She was right. The sauce/drizzle/glaze/icing was the proverbial cherry on top. It’s also a form of crazy dough, as she called it, and is egg-free. So, if you’re in the market for an egg-free cake recipe, hen you’re in luck! This egg-free Paleo Cranberry Cake is a sweet place to start!

I have made this recipe two additional ways since my childhood, and I find both work but yield vastly different results. And it comes down to one ingredient: the sugar. When I first made Paleo Cranberry Cake, I used coconut sugar. The result was delicious, but the cake looked different than it did when I was growing up. It had more of an amber color, and the glaze boasted a molasses flavor in place of a sweeter icing flavor. No matter. The taste was ON POINT. And that’s what mattered. 

Since then, I have experimented with monkfruit sweetener, and I LOVE it. The final result looks more like The Gram’s cake, and it’s incredibly sweet. Sweet enough, in fact, you can eat the cake by itself without puckering your lips or blinking your eyes. This does not mean, however, that I stopped making the famous-in-our-family sauce. Because that sauce is next-level delish, and I’m not skimping on the drizzly delight.

Speaking of the sauce, this recipe yields A LOT of the drizzly goodness! I love that my grandmother basically made the sauce with some cake to go with it! 😂 I usually make the full amount of sauce, however if you want less, then cut the sauce recipe in half. 

If you’re ready to trek back in time to a recipe I used to make with my grandmother, then let’s get baking! This Paleo Cranberry Cake awaits you!

PALEO CRANBERRY CAKE INGREDIENTS:

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make your own Paleo Cranberry Cake! 

• Fresh cranberries. Sliced in half, soggy berries removed.
• Almond flour and coconut flour. These two ingredients provide a sweet base that is easy to work with.
• Sugar. Either monkfruit sweetener for a traditional flavor or coconut sugar for a molasses-style cake.
• Baking powder. I read labels carefully when selecting a baking powder to make sure I choose one that is gluten-free. If you’d like to make your own paleo baking powder, King Arthur has a recipe for Paleo Baking Powder.
• Almond milk. Unsweetened and unflavored.
• Coconut oil. Melted.
• Coconut milk. Chill a can of full-fat coconut milk overnight. Make sure not to shake the can. The cream of the milk will rise to the top. Skim the milk “cream” off the next day and use in your Paleo Cranberry Cake recipe.
• Allergen-friend buttery spread, coconut oil, or ghee.
• Tapioca flour. I love tapioca flour for its thickening agent qualities. It’s the perfect addition to the glaze.

HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY CAKE:

Below are the steps to bake Paleo Cranberry Cake!

1. Set oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 or 8×8 baking dish and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine almond flour, coconut flour, monkfruit sweetener, baking powder, almond milk, and melted coconut oil. Stir together using a fork or potato masher. Then gently stir in the fresh cranberries.
3. Pour mixture into the greased baking dish and press the dough into place. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes if using a 9×9 baking dish or 35-40 minutes for an 8×8 baking dish. Cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
4. In a small saucepan, combine coconut milk, butter, monkfruit sweetener, and tapioca flour. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring continually, until the liquid thickens. This process typically takes 5-10 minutes. Once the sauce thickens, remove from heat to let cool.
5. While the sauce is still warm, but no longer boiling, drizzle over cake and serve!
6. Refrigerate leftover sauce for up to three days.

NOTE: Cake will come out of the oven still soft. Please let it sit for 5-10 minutes so the ingredients have time to set.

RECIPE NOTES:

• For the sauce: I used Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery Spread to make the sauce. If you want to keep the recipe paleo, then use ghee or coconut oil.
• For the cake: I use either coconut sugar or monkfruit sweetener. And if you’re wondering whether you can change out the cranberries with another fruit, I haven’t tried it, but I suspect you could. What you may need to do is back off the sweetener by 2 tablespoons (or maybe even 3 or 4) so your cake doesn’t become too sweet. But that is entirely up to you! For my part, I definitely plan to experiment with additional flavors, and when I find a successful new variation, I’ll make sure to post it to the blog!

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COCONUT SUGAR AND MONKFRUIT SWEETENER:

Although monkfruit sweetener and coconut sugar look significantly different from one another, they both work well in Paleo Cranberry Cake. Below are characteristics that set them apart.

Monkfruit sweetener is extremely sweet whereas coconut sugar will taste more like brown sugar or molasses. Coconut sugar bakes drier than monkfruit sweetener, so it’s important to keep a close eye on the cake and sauce as each cooks.

If you’re in the mood for more flavorful cranberry recipes, then you might like these tasty treats!

• Cranberry Pomegranate Margaritas
• Winter Fruit Salsa
• Cranberry Pomegranate Mimosas
• Cranberry Fizz Mocktail

Take care, Spiriteds! I hope you are well, and I’m glad you’re here! ❤️

Print