By Tammy Thornton
When it comes to food for the holidays, everything becomes a bit more elevated and fancy. Like a sprinkle of snow, desserts often find themselves showered with a dusting of powdered sugar, and candied fruit glistens in the candlelight. This year, I decided to try a new treat and found that sugared cranberries make beautiful embellishments to my favorite Christmas treats, but are also super easy to make.
If you have ever tried eating a raw cranberry, you’ll know that it can make you pucker up faster than you can say Kris Kringle. But don’t let that turn you off from enjoying these tart Christmas-y berries. Once cooked in a little sugar, cranberries burst with a lovely red color and take on a beautiful sheen, and the sugar will counter the tartness.
When I first started using cranberries in recipes, they were solely on the Thanksgiving table as homemade cranberry sauce, complete with marmalade, sugar, and cinnamon sticks. This same cranberry sauce can be used as an appetizer by spreading crostini with a little goat cheese or mascarpone cheese, topping with the jellied cranberry sauce, then adding a sprig of thyme or rosemary. For the holidays, I also treat my guests to appetizer meatballs and add some of this same cranberry sauce. But now, I’ve found a new way to let cranberries shine, and my head is spinning with new ideas to show them off.
Making sugared cranberries requires no more ingredients than water, sugar, and cranberries, and very little effort. But the finished product looks like a snowy treat touched by Jack Frost. Before you start, make sure you cover a cookie sheet (or platter) with parchment paper for a quick cleanup. Take a medium-sized saucepan and make a simple syrup which consists of equal parts sugar and water. If you’re the type that needs exact instructions, start with one cup water and one cup sugar. Cook on medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves into the water. Try not to splash because crystals will form on the side of your pan. Also use caution that you don’t splash it on yourself, because cooked sugar can be very hot. It should only take a few minutes for the sugar to dissolve. Remove the pan from heat and allow your simple syrup to cool slightly. Add one cup or so of cranberries to your simple syrup and stir to coat them. Allow them to soak in the syrup for about 10 – 15 minutes. Then carefully take the cranberries out with a slotted spoon and place them on the parchment paper. Try to drain the syrup as you take them out because you want them to dry out. After you have placed all of the cranberries on the parchment paper, give them a little shake to separate them. I placed the cookie sheet in a cooled oven overnight, but you can move to the next step after they have set for an hour. I do not recommend placing them in a freezer or refrigerator because they can become soggy. After an hour or so (or overnight), toss the cranberries in a bowl of white sugar. The cranberries should be sticky enough to allow the sugar to adhere, but dry enough that they don’t look wet after they are tossed in the sugar. If they still look wet, add a little more sugar.
Pop a few of these sugared cranberries into your mouth, and you’ll have a little sugary/tart crunchy treat. You might enjoy them so much, you’ll have to make an extra batch to use as garnishments. They look so pretty in a bowl, but the best way to show off your sugared cranberries is as a garnishment for chocolate tarts, cupcakes, Pavlova wreaths, or on a Christmas charcuterie board. You can add these sparkly gems to any of your holiday trays and they will add a fun glisten to your desserts. Once you realize how easy these cuties are to make, you’ll want to try other fruits. Sugared oranges, lemons, and limes also make fun and delicious treats. Add citrus to your simple syrup the same time you make the cranberries and save the simple syrup for yummy holiday drinks, then add the citrus and berries as a pretty garnishment.
We would love to hear how our readers make their holiday tables special. Send your favorite holiday ideas and pictures to shorelocalgardener@gmail.com.
Tammy Thornton lives with her husband, children, and crazy pets while enjoying a life of gardening, cooking, and going to the beach.
