Sugared Cranberries
Sparkling Sugared Cranberries
I remember seeing this recipe last year and having no desire whatsoever to make it. I had zero affinity for cranberries other than in juice form.
Then this year, I loved the look of this Lemon Cranberry Cake and made it for Christmas, which left me with extra cranberries. I needed to do something with them and thought I might as well give this sugared cranberries recipe a whirl.
I bit into a raw cranberry and promptly spat it out. Not tasty in the least! But I had all these extra cranberries, so what did I have to lose?
Biting into a sugar-coated cranberry is a totally different story than biting into a raw one. Like, WOW! That sugar crust offsets the tartness, creating a pleasant balance of tart and sweet. It tastes kind of like a natural version of Sour Patch candies.
I made everyone try it at Christmas dinner, and to everyone’s surprise, they liked it.
I added them around the Lemon Cranberry Cake, which gave it a sparkly decorative touch.
I’m going to make them again this week for the Book Club meeting, and this time I’m going to try them atop crackers and brie, as seen on Annie’s Eats.
Sugared Cranberries
Sparkling Sugared Cranberries
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- optional: 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- optional: 1/2 tsp. orange extract
- granulated sugar
- optional: chunkier sugar
DIRECTIONS
- Make a simple syrup by combining the 1/2 cup water and the 1/2 cup sugar in a small pan; heat over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. If desired, add vanilla and orange extracts.
- When simple syrup cools, add cranberries and stir to coat.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove cranberries and allow excess syrup to drain.
- Transfer berries to a rack placed over a piece of foil to capture excess drainage of syrup. Allow berries to dry for an hour or two. They should have a sticky coating.
- Place several berries into a bowl of sugar and use a spoon to gently toss them until thoroughly coated. I like to coat first using a thicker-grained sugar (I used a sugar sprinkle I had in my sugar cookie decorating container), then I place the cranberries into a bowl with granulated sugar to fill in the gaps. The thicker sugar creates more crunch, but using only granulated sugar works well, too.
- Place coated cranberries on parchment-lined paper and allow to dry for another hour or so. At that point, you can store them in a covered container in the refrigerator for about a week. I actually left mine on the counter for a couple days and they fared well.
SOURCE: adapted from Annie’s Eats via Bakingdom
Scrumptious and Sumptuous 