Tag Archives: cranberry

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Cranberry Semifreddo Cups

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Are you tired of pumpkin yet?

I’m totes not…but, maybe we need a teensy break. Besides, fall has other stars! Pink ones even, like the tart and native-North-American-beauty, the cranberry. In my head I’m saying “cran-brerry,” in case you wanted to know. Anyway, cranberries shouldn’t just be relegated to side dish status. They are tart, a little bitter, and have the prettiest jewel-toned hue.

I’m a big fan of semifreddo, it’s a lot like ice cream–but it isn’t. It’s a little less fussy, since you don’t have to bust out a machine to churn it, but still manages to maintain a light-yet-rich character.  The deep fuchsia cranberry puree turns the best shade of pink when folded into the semifreddo base–no dyes up in here. A little vanilla and some bourbon bring warmth to the bittersweet tang of the cranberry, while whipped cream and egg yolks bring creamy lushness. Even though it’s a pretty easy recipe, this dessert certainly feels fancy and would be a perfect make-a-head treat to round out a fall or holiday gathering.

Cranberry Semifreddo Cups

Adapted from this recipe. 

You could use another fruit puree if you aren’t feeling, or can’t find, cranberries. Any tart, red fruit would be a nice substitute. You can also serve this semifreddo in scoops or smooth it into a loaf pan before freezing and slice once frozen (like this). I garnished these cups with lightly sweetened whipped cream and some chocolate vermicelli sprinkles. I happen to like tart cranberry with chocolate, but if you aren’t a fan, these are lovely unadorned as well. The recipe below produces more cranberry puree than needed–use it to serve these semifreddo cups or save for another use. 

12 ounces cranberries

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons mild honey

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons bourbon (optional)

In a medium saucepan combine cranberries, 2/3 cup sugar, and water. Cook over medium heat until cranberries burst and release their juices and the mixture starts to thicken. Press the cranberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve, discard skins and seeds. You will have around 2 cups of cranberry puree. Set aside to cool.

Create an ice bath and set aside.

Fashion a double boiler out of a bowl and a pot with a bit of simmering water in it–place a dampened paper towel on the underside of the bowl, making sure it is just larger than the pot below, to avoid slipping while whisking. This way you are able to whisk without steadying the bowl with your other hand.

Place the honey, remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar, and egg yolks in the bowl. Whisk over the simmering pan of water until the yolk mixture gains some volume, becomes pale in color, and the whisk is just beginning to leave tracks in the mixture. Slowly drizzle in the vanilla and bourbon–whisking the whole time. Continue to whisk the yolk mixture over the simmering water until thickened and the whisk leaves clear, visible tracks in the yolk mixture. Remove the bowl from over the pot of water and whisk over an ice bath until cooled. Gently fold about 1-1 1/3 cups of the cranberry puree into the yolk mixture.

In a clean bowl, whip the cream until it holds medium peaks. Fold in 1/3 of the cream mixture into the cooled yolk and cranberry mixture. Once combined, repeat with the remaining whipped cream. Spoon the semifreddo mix into cups, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for several hours until very firm. Serve cold with desired garnishes.

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Recipe: Cranberry Eggnog Coffee Cake

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On a holiday like Christmas, the morning can be a little hectic. Especially if there are little ones around, or dudes like my brother–a child trapped in a mans body–with their minds on what’s under the tree and not what’s in the kitchen. For my family, this isn’t the time for long, lingering breakfasts…it’s a time for coffee and something to snack on whilst tearing through that paper and cozying up on the couch for a few hours before heading to my aunts house for an extended family gathering and feast session.

We try to have something for breakfast that can be baked while the coffee is brewing. It can’t be anything that requires anyone to be sequestered in the kitchen for long, that’s just not right, and it has to be able to bake while the coffee is brewing. Meaning, it can’t take more than an hour, because it doesn’t matter how early my mom and I rise…the rest of the house will soon follow and a battle like that isn’t fit for Christmas morning.

I suspect that this year will be even more of a challenge since my niece is a toddler and we will all be anxious to see her react to the tree, and the gifts, and all of the festive, magical glory that is Christmas. She’s already at an exciting age and this exciting time of the year is sure to be a good memory for us all. I really cannot wait!

This cake would be a perfect Christmas morning treat. It’s pretty and full of holiday flavors–eggnog, cranberries, vanilla, and nutmeg–plus it has a little crumble on top. The jeweled cranberry layer takes on an almost jam-like quality, while the vanilla and nutmeg make the flavor of the eggnog sing. The cake is moist and a little dense in that coffee cake way. It’s delightful, albeit messy, served still a bit warm from the oven, though it keeps well overnight and can be baked ahead…further freeing up your morning for the fun stuff.

Cranberry Eggnog Coffee Cake

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

I have made this cake before, with buttermilk instead of eggnog and without the nutmeg. I loved it the first time, but I may like this festive version even more. This cake can be made year-round too with any flavor of jam standing in for the cranberry layer. 

1 vanilla bean split and scraped (save the pod for extract or sugar)

1 3/4 cup sugar

6 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries

2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoon fresh, grated nutmeg, divided

1 stick (4 ounces) plus 1 tablespoon softened butter, divided

2 large eggs

1/2 cup eggnog

confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375F, placing the rack in the middle. Butter a 9-inch springform pan (or cake pan) and line the bottom with parchment. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process sugar with vanilla bean until combined well. Pour vanilla sugar into a separate bowl. Add cranberries and 1/2 cup of the sugar back into the processor bowl and pulse a few times until finely chopped, but not puréed.

In a medium bowl whisk together 2 cups of flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup of vanilla sugar with 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon each of butter and flour. Blend well with fingers, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with electric beaters,  beat together 1 stick of butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl well and alternately add flour mixture and eggnog, beginning and ending with flour, until just combined.

Spread half of the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan, smoothing as best as you can. Spread the cranberries over the batter, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the diameter. Gently spread the remaining batter on top of the cranberry layer, all the way to the edges, and sprinkle with crumble topping.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake (not the cranberry layer) comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the pan–40-50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 30 minutes before releasing from the pan.

Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.

Can be made 24 hours ahead, stored cooled and tightly wrapped at room temperature.

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Recipe: Pear Cranberry Muffins

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These muffins are perfect for snowy mornings. They were originally a bread, that I made last week after seeing it on Shutterbean. Tracy knows where it’s at when it come to delicious things. It was so dang good, I had to have it again this week, only in muffin form. These muffins have crunch from the nuts, tang from the cranberries, heartiness from wheat germ, tender moisture from juicy pears, and little hints of spice. The first time around I made the recipe as is, this time I added a few things like fresh ginger, a bit of allspice, swapped the walnuts for pecans, and snuck in that wheat germ–for science and health.

Like I said, these are perfect for snowy mornings. The kind where you wake up to heavy tree limbs all over your yard, and a massive driveway + walkway to shovel. Maybe you weren’t even prepared for the snow and forgot that you needed a snow shovel, so you had to drive to the hardware store before the sun was even up to procure one…but, thank goodness your car is a boss in the snow. After you’re done heaving around that heavy & wet snow and chucking those tree limbs back into the forest, you can come inside to a hot cup of coffee and a tasty muffin treat. You deserve it for being so physical first thing in the AM.

For those of you that may be wondering, this isn’t my first snow-rodeo. Despite being from Nevada, I’ve had my fair share of snow…contrary to popular belief, the desert has more to do with precipitation (or lack thereof) than heat. I lived in the northern part of the state, just east of the Sierra Nevadas where it’s usually cold, hot, or windy, and always arid.  

Pear Cranberry Muffins

adapted from Shutterbean

makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons wheat germ

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 large egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 cups grated, peeled, ripe pear + any juices (about 2 pears)

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F and line or spray a muffin tin. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together egg, oil, ginger, vanilla, lemon zest and juice, and grated pear + juices. Fold wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Fold in nuts and cranberries. Evenly divide batter between muffin cups and bake fro 14-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Store in an airtight container after completely cooled.

 

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Recipe: Herbed Turkey Burgers with Goat Cheese and Cranberry Sauce

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Guess what?

I pretty much make dinner 7 nights a week. For real. It’s not always fancy, or meaty, or exciting in the least. Sometimes it’s just whatever is wasting away in the crisper drawer combined with rice, sweet or regular potatoes, pasta, or tortillas. I just love a carb-y vehicle to drive the food home (in this case, home is my mouth).

I take the weekends as a cue to make something fun and exciting. I test out recipes I’ve had pinned, bookmarked, or have schemed up. A couple of weekends ago, it was rich and delicious chicken pot pie. The next weekend, fried chicken sandwiches with extra pickles. This past weekend, it was these amazeballs turkey burgers.

Yeah, man…they were amazeballs.  That wasn’t even a typo.

I mean, it’s a burger. We’re burger fanatics in this house. It doesn’t really matter what kind of patty it is…we’re totally into bean burgers, as well as the classic beef, and we’ve even been known to love a pork or chicken burger. Ground turkey is always a lean and easy to find option, but it can be dry and bland.

I try to jazz  up  turkey burgers with lots of herbs (sage & rosemary) and aromatics (onions & garlic), and ensure juiciness with a little greek yogurt. Then, there’s the bun and the toppings, which cannot be ignored. In this case it was my favorite Light Brioche bun, some soft goat cheese, lemony cranberry sauce, spinach (for some green), and some grainy mustard. It was pretty much Thanksgiving on a burger and it was love.

What kind of burger are you in love with?

Herbed Turkey Burgers with Goat Cheese and Cranberry Sauce

This burger is a meal in and of itself, but it’s totally appropriate to serve with a side of sweet potato fries.

Cranberry Sauce

12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2-3/4 cup sugar (to taste)

zest of 1 lemon

juice of one lemon

3/4 cup water

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients and cook until cranberries burst, give off their juice, and thicken (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve if desired. Pour into a heatproof jar and allow to cool. Refrigerate. Will thicken as it cools.

Turkey Burger

1/2 medium onion, diced fine

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped, fresh sage

2 teaspoons minced, fresh rosemary

1 pound lean, ground turkey

1 egg

2 tablespoons greek yogurt

3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

goat cheese, grainy mustard, and spinach leaves to serve

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, sweat onions and garlic. Once onions become translucent, add sage and rosemary and saute another minute. Do not brown or the garlic may burn. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl combine ground turkey, egg, yogurt, breadcrumbs, and cooled onion/herb mixture. Mix gently to combine. Divide meat into 4 sections and shape into patties (about 1/4-1/2 inch thick), making a shallow well in the center. Refrigerate patties for 20 minutes to firm up.

Heat a heavy skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle patties liberally with salt and pepper, cook, flipping only once, for about 4 minutes on each side. Top with goat cheese, add a splash of water to the pan (1 tablespoon is good) and cover until liquid evaporates. This will soften the cheese, but not melt it since goat cheese doesn’t really melt. Place burgers on toasted buns with mustard and spinach, top with cranberry sauce.

Light Wheat Brioche Buns

I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat and regular whole wheat flour. You can use whatever you like or just use bread flour.

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

 

3/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons warm milk

2 teaspoons dry yeast

2 tablespoons honey

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

poppy seeds or sesame seeds for sprinkling

1 egg + i tablespoon cream for egg wash

Measure out warm water and milk into a glass measuring cup. Stir in honey and then yeast. Allow to rest 5 minutes until foamy.

Lightly beat the egg in a small dish and set aside.

In a stand mixer, whisk together flours and salt. Rub butter into flour mixture with your fingertips. Mix in the yeast and water mixture, as well as the egg. Knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes. The dough will pull from the sides of the bowl and form a ball, the dough ball should be tacky to the touch. Rise, covered with plastic for 1-2 hours until doubled in bulk.

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll into balls. Place the dough portions on a parchemnet lined baking sheet and cover loosely, allow to rise another hour.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Whisk together egg and cream, brush the tops of the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds. Bake buns in the center of the oven for 15 minutes. The buns should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Allow to cool on a cooling rack. Buns can be baked and frozen in a resealable plastic bag for use later.  Just defrost for 1-2 hours on the counter, or overnight in the refrigerator.