Cranberry Lemon Bread

A cranberry loaf cake cut in half showing the inside. It is topped with white frosting and sugared cranberries.

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5 from 5 votes

Cranberry Lemon Bread

Moist cranberry lemon bread recipe with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and sugared cranberries.

Prep Time18

Cook Time1 20

Total Time1 38

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Calories: 528kcal

Author: Ella Gilbert

Equipment

8.5"x 4.5" loaf pan

Ingredients

Loaf Cake

1 cup unsalted butter
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup sour cream room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup cranberries washed and dried
1 tablespoon flour for tossing the cranberries

Frosting

¾ cup cream cheese room temperature
½ stick unsalted butter room temperature
1 tablespoon sour cream room temperature
5 oz white chocolate melted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Sugared Cranberries

1 cup cranberries washed and dried
¼ cup water
½ cup sugar

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Cranberry Lemon Loaf

Preheat your oven to 325°F/170°C. Grease and line a 8.5x4.5" loaf pan.
Cut your cranberries. If they're small cranberries, cut into quarters, and if they're large cut into eighths. Toss with 1-2 tablespoons of flour in a small bowl and set aside.
1 cup cranberries, 1 tbsp flour
Melt your butter in a microwave or in a small saucepan. Once melted, set aside.
1 cup unsalted butter
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2 cups all purpose flour, ¾ tsp baking powder, 1 tsp kosher salt
In a food processor or large blender, blend together your sugar and lemon zest. Do this for about 20-30 seconds, or until the lemon zest releases their oils and your sugar takes on more of a yellow color.
1 ½ cups granulated sugar, zest 1 lemon
Stop the food processor and pour in your wet ingredients - melted butter, vanilla extract, fresh lemon juice, 3 eggs and sour cream. Blend together for 20 seconds.
3 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ cup sour cream
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together with a rubber spatula. Fold until there are no more streaks of flour. Add in your chopped cranberries and fold those into the batter.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and tape it on your counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 80-90 minutes, a tester should come out clean. After 10 minutes, take it out of the pan and let it cool completely. If your loaf is turning too brown in the oven, cover it with aluminium foil.

Sugared Cranberries

In a small saucepan, dissolve 50g/¼ cup of the sugar and water over a medium heat. Using a silicone spatula, you can stir occasionally to help dissolve the sugar. Once all the sugar is dissolved take it off the heat.
1 cup cranberries, ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup water
Add the cranberries to this syrup and make sure the cranberries are evenly coated. Place a piece of parchment paper on your counter and use a slotted spoon to take the cranberries out and place on the paper. Let them sit for about an hour.
Put the remaining sugar in a medium bowl and add the cranberries, making sure they're all coated.

White Chocolate Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sour cream and butter together until smooth.
¾ cup cream cheese, 1 tablespoon sour cream, ½ stick unsalted butter
Pour in the melted white chocolate and vanilla and beat until completely combined. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
5 oz white chocolate, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Notes

My recipes have been developed and tested in cups and metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way.

Butter: I use European style butter, like Kerry Gold, in my recipes. This will make your finished bake much creamier and richer.

Salt: If you don't have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt.

Storage: the loaf cake lasts up to 4 days at room temperature, keep it well wrapped.

Freezing: slice up your loaf and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 2 months. To defrost, take it out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge overnight.

This recipe method is based from Alice Medrich's food processor pound cake.

Nutrition