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White Chocolate–Cranberry Cake

A slice of a twolayer white chocolate frosted cake sits alongside the full cake topped with cranberry jam sugared...
Photograph by Lucia Bell-Epstein, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, and Prop Styling by Erica Lutz

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If anyone still needs convincing that cake is better than pie, this is the one that might flip the jury. With the tang of buttermilk and a suggestion of fresh orange in the batter, a claret-red cranberry jam so good you’ll want it on toast, and a white chocolate frosting that is unusual in its technique, it is a cake that’s equal parts impressive and achievable.

The sugared cranberries taste like top-of-the-line sour candy—they’re a topping, but the recipe is worth making for these little jewels alone. Use a good white chocolate for the smoothest, silkiest frosting. Bars of eating-quality chocolate will outperform chips and chunks. And ensure your cream cheese and butter are very soft so there are no lumps.