White Christmas Cake.

The sweetest White Christmas Cranberry Layer Cake to celebrate the most wonderful time of year. Four layers of light and fluffy vanilla cake, made moist with the addition of coconut nog and greek yogurt. Each cake has a layer of homemade cranberry jam and white chocolate buttercream. Every bite is delicious with fresh cranberries, hints of coconut, and sweet vanilla cake. The perfect festive cake to celebrate the holidays this season.

The final countdown between now and Christmas is officially on. We’re just one week away from Christmas Eve. The craziness has set in, and as usual, I’m scrambling to check every last item off my to-do list before it’s too late…

It’s going to be tight this year, but thankfully, I have an exciting cake to share with everyone today.

Jumping right into my rambling because I have stories and details to share on this very special Christmas cake.

Here is the story…

I’ve wanted to make a version of this cake for a couple of years now, but the vision in my head stopped me every single time. Sometimes I can have a picture in my head of a recipe (especially dessert recipes) before I’ve even begun to develop the recipe. I love when this is the case because it helps me to easily write up the recipe to start testing. But with this cake? The picture in my head intimidated me. I knew there was a very good chance I could never recreate the photo in my head and that if I were to attempt the cake, I might end up walking away with disappointment. I put a lot of pressure on myself to give you guys only the best recipes and I just knew this cake could never turn out as cute as the one in my head.

I held off for a good two years, but this year it was a phone call with my mom that convinced me I needed to at least try. Because really, you never know until you try.

Plus, the sound of a sweet cranberry layer cake lightly hinted with coconut sounded so good to both of us. It was time to share this cake already!

So. I tried. And by the end of the day, I may have even shed a few tears. Even though this cake looks nothing like what I envisioned, it’s DELICIOUS. And in the end, that’s all that truly matters.

And you know what? It’s not perfect, but I do indeed LOVE it.

The details.

The vanilla cake is not your standard cake. My secret is to use a mix of coconut nog and Greek yogurt to keep the cake extra moist. If you don’t love coconut nog or simply don’t want to make it, use buttermilk. I will say that the eggnog adds only a nice spiced flavor. I used my homemade coconut nog (which is vegan, so technically not eggnog).

While the cake itself is good, it’s not really the star flavor. Nope, what this cake is really all about is the cranberry jam. It’s made with maple syrup and hinted with orange, cinnamon, and gingers. The flavors of Christmas.

It. Is. So. Good!

Once you’ve made the cake, it comes together pretty easily. The trickiest part is slicing the cake layers in half, which I know might sound scary, but you guys can do it.

I decorated simply, with sugared cranberries, coconut, and rosemary.

A few things…

One, don’t stress too much about creating a perfectly even cut. As you can see, my layers are nowhere near perfect, but all turned out OK.

Two, use a long serrated bread knife to cut the cake in half. This helps so much with making an even cut all the way through.

Three, be sure to cool the cake completely before slicing.

Please don’t stress about having to cut the cake layers in half. It’s not as scary as it may seem. Once you layer everything together the cake is going to be beautiful…no matter what. And, if you do have trouble and the cake crumbles a bit, don’t worry, those crumbs make for a delicious snack.

Four, remember that any “mistakes” can all be fixed with frosting…never too much frosting.

Bottom line?

You need to be making this cake. All the holiday cookies are amazing, and we do need them, but a show-stopping cake is always a good idea. Plus, you can never have too many sweets at Christmas time.

Tis the season. Enjoy it, and then…healthy January will follow.

If you make this white Christmas cranberry layer cake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!