3 Ingredients Sparkling Sugared Cranberries
Sugared Cranberries make a fabulous garnish for pies, cocktails, holiday sides or on top of a cake. They also make a welcomed and delicious gift or snack! [New VIDEO below] See blog post for more tips. For variations see recipe notes. *You'll need about half a 12 ounce bag to make this recipe (to yield about 1 cup). For two cups, this recipe doubles easily.
Servings 1 Cup
Calories 627kcal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) Water
- 3/4 cup (175 grams) Organic Cane Sugar divided
- 1 cup (115 grams) Fresh Cranberries
- Scraped Vanilla Bean *optional
Instructions
- In a small sauce-pot, whisk water and 1/2 cup (135 grams) of sugar to combine. Bring just to a simmer and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add a scraped vanilla bean pod if desired*. Remove from heat and stir in the cranberries so that they are coated evenly with the sugar syrup. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Strain, reserving the syrup for cocktails or mocktails, if desired (you can add the vanilla bean pod to the reserved syrup). Transfer the cranberries to a large piece of parchment paper on a large wire cooling rack. Separate the cranberries so they’re not touching. Allow to dry out at room temperature for 45 minutes to one hour. When dry, they’ll be shiny, not wet. They should still be sticky enough so that the sugar sticks when rolled in sugar.
- Place the remaining sugar on a plate and transfer the cranberries to the plate, rolling the cranberries in the sugar to coat. This is sticky, but as the cranberries get coated, they wont stick to your hands as much.
- Enjoy right away or, to store, place the cranberries in a lidded container with a little pinch bowl of rice ( a couple of teaspoons ). The rice helps keep the cranberries fresh by absorbing any moisture in the air. Sugar loves water and will pull it right out of the air making your cranberries soggy quicker than if not using the rice. The cranberries will stay fresh for two days or up to four depending on how fresh the cranberries are. Store at room temperature. After two-three days, you may notice the cranberries "weeping." To freshen them up again, simply toss them with more sugar.
Video
Notes
Reserve the sugar syrup for cocktails.
I typically use cane sugar in this recipe but granulated sugar works well too. For reference, the blog pictures are cane sugar.
Variations:
Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary: Simply place a sprig of fresh rosemary in with the simple syrup as you’re making the simple syrup and steeping the cranberries.
*With Vanilla: If you have a vanilla bean pod that you previously used the beans from, you can use the pod in this recipe. Place a scraped vanilla bean in with the simple syrup and while steeping the cranberries.
With Orange: Add orange peel to the simple syrup with a squeeze of orange juice and steep the cranberries with the orange peel.
*With Vanilla: If you have a vanilla bean pod that you previously used the beans from, you can use the pod in this recipe. Place a scraped vanilla bean in with the simple syrup and while steeping the cranberries.
With Orange: Add orange peel to the simple syrup with a squeeze of orange juice and steep the cranberries with the orange peel.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 627kcal | Carbohydrates: 162g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 85mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 154g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Iron: 1mg