Desserts are a fundamental part of the festive season and what better ingredient to include in them than cranberries? Here are three of our favourites.
Cranberries are arguably the strawberries of winter and one of the most pivotal ingredients to the festive season.
A great number of the dishes you come across at this time of year have cranberries in them, most notably desserts. So, we’ve rounded up three of our favourite dessert ideas using cranberries.
For more inspiration, take a look at our previous three ways with recipes here.
Recipes from berryworld.com
Cranberries and meringues
(Makes 6)
Ingredients
- 75g cranberries
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 free-range egg whites, at room temperature
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 110g caster sugar
- 200ml double or whipping cream
- Finely shredded rind of 1 lime
Method
- Place the cranberries and syrup in a small pan. Heat gently until the syrup begins to bubble but don’t let the cranberries pop. When the cranberries are just softening transfer them to a bowl and set aside until really cold, (several hours or overnight) stirring once or twice to keep them evenly coated in syrup.
- Whisk the egg whites in a really clean bowl until they form stiff but not brittle peaks. Then gradually whisk in the cornflour, vanilla and sugar until really stiff and glossy.
- Cover two baking trays with baking parchment or non-stick tray liners. Spoon the meringue on to trays in 6 large piles well space apart and then shape them into hollowed out nests.
- Bake at 150ºC/gas mark 2 for 1½-2 hours, lowering the heat to 140ºC/gas mark 1 after one hour or if they appear to be browning. Then leave to cool thoroughly in the oven.
- To serve, place the meringues on individual serving plates. Whip the cream to a soft peak and stir in the lime zest. Place a few of the prepared and chilled cranberries in the base of each meringue.
- Then spoon on a little cream and finally top with more of the cranberries. Serve immediately.
Cranberry, pecan and orange crumble cake
(Serves 15)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 225g butter, softened
- 225g caster sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 225g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
- 150g fresh cranberries, chopped
- Grated zest of one orange
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
For the crumble topping:
- 100g plain flour
- 50g butter, cubed
- 25g demerara sugar, plus one extra tbsp
- 25g pecans, roughly chopped
Method
- Preheat oven 160ºC/gas mark 3. Grease and line the base of a 20cm loose-bottomed deep cake tin. First make the crumble.
- Place the plain flour into a bowl, rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs and then stir in the sugar and pecans.
- Next, place the softened butter and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, yoghurt, cranberries, orange zest and pecans.
- Spoon into the prepared cake tin, top with the crumble, mixing a little bit into the top of the cake mix.
- Sprinkle over the extra one tablespoon of demerara sugar.
- Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool for 15 minutes in the tin then carefully remove and cool on a wire rack. Serve cut into slices.
Toffee cranberry puddings
(Serves 4-6)
Ingredients
- 110g butter, softened
- 175g soft light brown sugar
- 2 free range eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 110g wholemeal self-raising flour
- 50g BerryWorld cranberries, chopped
- 1-2 tbsp milk
For the sauce:
- 110g cranberries
- 4 tbsp water
- 110g soft light brown sugar
- 25g butter
- 50ml double cream
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then blend in the eggs, vanilla, flour and cranberries, adding a little milk if necessary to give a fairly soft consistency.
- Spoon the mixture into lightly greased individual pudding basins. Cover each loosely with a piece of greased greaseproof paper.
- Place on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes until well risen and just firm.
- For the sauce place the cranberries in a saucepan with the water and sugar and heat gently until the cranberries pop and burst and the sauce reduces a little.
- Stir in the butter and continue for a few minutes until the sauce thickens and becomes slightly syrupy.
- To serve, turn out the puddings and pour on a little of the cranberry toffee sauce. Serve with thick cream or ice cream and the rest of the sauce.
More in this series…
From a scrumptious side dish, to cheesecake and pizza bread, three ways to use ricotta cheese