Cranberry Gingerbread Loaf

Last updated: Jan 11, 2025 | Published: Dec 22, 2017

This cranberry gingerbread loaf is a lightly sweetened yet highly flavorful gingerbread cake baked with a swirl of tart cranberry sauce. Baked in a loaf pan and topped off with chopped pecans, you can enjoy this cake at any time of the day.

I often find gingerbread cakes underflavored and oversweetened. I wanted a cake that was less sweet and more spiced. When I came across a bag of fresh cranberries in my fridge, I thought their tartness would be a great addition to the typical gingerbread.

I liked the sound of this New York Times recipe by Melissa Clark. You make cranberry sauce and then stir it into the gingerbread cake batter. During the holidays, I always make plenty of cranberry sauce and keep it on hand to add to oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream, sandwiches, and wherever else I can find a use, which now includes cake.

I played with Melissa's recipe a bit—I removed the granulated sugar, reduced the other sweeteners, and added nutmeg and cloves. I wanted to bake it in a loaf pan to slice like bread and figured chopped pecans would be a nice way to top it off. So, here we are.

Jump to:

🍰 Why you'll love this cranberry gingerbread loaf cake
🫚 Ingredients
🎉 Variations
🥣 Instructions
🔪 Helpful Tips
🍳 Equipment
🫙 Storage
🤔 FAQ
🫖 Pairing
📖 Recipe
🫐 Related Recipes
💬 Comments

🍰 Why you'll love this cranberry gingerbread loaf cake

Pockets of cranberry sauce enhance the cakes' flavor and moisture, and it's a great way to use any sauce you have leftover in your fridge from holiday meals.
It's not super sweet, so it could be eaten for breakfast, dessert, an afternoon snack, or at any time. There is never a bad time for cake.
A crunchy pecan topping may be simple but is a nice complement to the fresh cranberries rather than a sugary icing or frosting.

Interested in more holiday baking recipes? Give these a try next:

🫚 Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make this cranberry loaf.

Key Ingredients

Cranberry sauce: Homemade cranberry sauce is swirled into the gingerbread cake to create gooey cranberry pockets through each slice. You can use my cranberry sauce with mandarin orange recipe, your favorite recipe, or store-bought cranberry sauce—just not the jellied stuff here.
Pecans: Add a crunchy, nutty topping to the cake. You can substitute any other nut or even pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
Molasses: For the classic deep, sweet flavor of gingerbread. This is an essential ingredient.
Maple syrup and brown sugar: A balance of both sweeteners adds more complex sweetness along with the molasses.

See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and quantities.

🎉 Variations

Spicier: Not everyone loves intense spice in their baked goods like I do. But if you want to spice this up more, add a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger and a half teaspoon of ground black pepper to the other spices.
With even more cranberries: Add ½ cup dried cranberries to the batter before swirling in the cranberry sauce.

🥣 Instructions

How to make this cranberry gingerbread loaf recipe.

whisking melted butter with sugars in a pan

Step 1: Melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the maple syrup, molasses, and brown sugar. Let it cool briefly.

Step 2: In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

eggs being added to dry ingredients for the cranberry cake

Step 3: Stir in the yogurt and eggs.

Step 4: Along with the butter and molasses mixture.

Step 5: Stir the cake batter until combined and the dry ingredients are all incorporated. Pour into a greased loaf pan.

Step 6: Pour the cranberry sauce over the batter and use a knife to swirl in.

Step 7: Spread the chopped pecans over the top and then bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the cake comes clean.

Step 8: Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

🔪 Helpful Tips

Just another reminder that you'll need cranberry sauce for this recipe. You can use leftover sauce you may already have, make a quick recipe like my Cranberry Sauce with Mandarin Orange, or use store bought (but not the jellied stuff). But for the absolute quickest way to make cranberry sauce without having to think or reference another recipe, simmer 1 cup fresh cranberries with ½ cup of water and ½ cup of sugar until the cranberries have broken down and thickened.
When testing the cake for doneness by sticking a knife or cake tester into the center, keep in mind that there are swirls of cranberry sauce that will remain soft. So you'll want to test it in a few spots to make sure you're actually reaching cake.
Let the melted butter and molasses mixture cool for a few minutes before stirring it into the dry ingredients. You don't want it to cook the eggs, which are added at the same time.

🍳 Equipment

Loaf pan: This cake is baked in a bread loaf pan about 8x4 inches. If you don't have a loaf pan, you can also bake it in a cake pan or a square baking dish. The baking time will likely be shorter, so start checking for doneness after about 35 minutes. Here's some helpful info on how to convert pan sizes.

🫙 Storage

Cover tightly and store this cake at room temperature for up to three days.

🤔 FAQ

What is the difference between a loaf cake and a cake?

The difference is really just the pan it is baked in. Loaf cakes are baked in a loaf pan while other cakes are baked in standard cake pans.

What flavor goes with gingerbread?

Pair gingerbread with apples, citrus, dried fruits, cranberries, nuts and seeds, chocolate, cream cheese, vanilla, bourbon, and coffee - to name just a few ideas.

Can I use a cake pan instead of a loaf pan?

Yes, you can use a cake pan instead of a loaf pan. Just keep in mind that the baking time will likely be less and the size and shape of your cake will vary depending on the size of your pan.

What makes gingerbread taste like gingerbread?

Molasses and spices such as ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg all make gingerbread taste like gingerbread.