White Chocolate Walnut Cake (with Cranberries)

This has to be one of my new favorite cake recipes, this white chocolate nut cake has so much in every bite, and is perfectly moist. The nice nutty flavor is perfect with a cup of coffee and the easy recipe is the perfect comfort food. It’s perfect right out of the oven, but also even better once cooled and topped with your favorite icing.

Suggested: Raspberry and White Chocolate Loaf

I decided to use white chocolate chips, but you can alternatively use dark chocolate chips. Without a doubt, it works perfectly with the crunchy walnuts, and the fresh cranberries too!

Why you’ll love this delicious White Chocolate Walnut Cake

• Easy! It’s so easy to make and all you need is a few simple ingredients that are easily accessible at your local grocery store. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer or handheld mixer for this recipe!
• Customizable. There is a strong walnut presence in this cake, but you can substitute it for sliced almonds or pecans. If you don’t have cranberries, you can absolutely leave them out and this walnut chocolate cake will be just as delicious.
• Perfect for any occasion. This cake can be dressed up or dressed down. This can be left bare, which particularly goes well with a cup of hot coffee. In addition, you can garnish with your favorite chocolate ganache, sour cream frosting, or cream cheese frosting for special occasions.
• Perfectly Moist. Many nut cakes can be quite dry, so contrary of using heavy cream, we opted for orange juice. This really helps the cake stay dense and moist while baking!

What you’ll need for this simple chocolate cake with walnuts and cranberries

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 3/4 cup of orange juice
• 1 tbsp of orange zest

How to make Chocolate Walnut Cake with Cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Either line your cake tin or loaf pan with parchment paper, or grease with butter or cooking spray. If you don’t have cooking spray on hand, check out my favourite substitutes for cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer), whisk together the sugar, egg, olive oil and vanilla extract on medium speed.
3. Then add in the orange juice and orange zest. Mix again until well incorporated.
4. Next, we are going to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add in the flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix well until the flour mixture is fully incorporated and no traces remain in the large mixing bowl.
5. Fold in the cranberries, walnuts and white chocolate chips.
6. Pour batter into your prepared pan or cake tin. Using a rubber spatula, smooth the top so that the cake batter is spread evenly in the prepared tin.
7. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean after being inserted into the centre of the cake and the edges of the cake start to turn golden. If the middle of the cake is not fully cooked, return to the oven for an extra 5 minutes. This may vary depending on your oven.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes before flipping it onto a wire rack.
9. Allow to come to room temperature before adding any icing, this should take about 30-35 minutes for the top of the cake to be cool enough.

How to serve White Chocolate Walnut Cake

You can top this cake with your favorite icing or ganache. You can do a white chocolate ganache or a simple butter cream icing. If serving this cake warm right out of the oven, I love to add ice cream to warm slices of this cake. You can even just sprinkle a little bit of powdered sugar too!

Other cake recipes you’ll love

• Blood Orange Cake: perfect for citrus season, this cake uses plain greek yogurt for the ultimate light and fluffy cake. This one can easily be made gluten-free by using almond flour too!
• Small Batch Coffee Brownies: this one will no doubt satisfy your chocolate cravings. You can use instant coffee or espresso powder for this one. The coffee mixture with the deep rich chocolate presence is to die for!
• Spiced Cranberry Bundt Cake: Cinnamon and Ginger are added to this season bundt cake recipe.
• Orange, Rosemary and Dark Chocolate Cake: a rich chocolate cake and so luxurious tasting. The notes of fresh rosemary and cocoa powder are just fantastic together. I even make this one with coconut sugar and it was perfect.