Sparkling Cranberries
Around the holidays these pretty, sugared, sparkling cranberries are perfect. Tart and sweet, they glint and wink in the surrounding holiday lights, and lend a striking dash of red to the table.
I've become convinced that these sparkling, sugared cranberries should be a part of every holiday spread. Sparkling cranberries glint and wink in the surrounding holiday lights, and lend a striking dash of red to the table. Another great thing is the way they effortlessly make the transition from savory course to sweet. So, for example, I've become fond of serving them as part of a cheese spread, but I imagine they'd be nice as the finishing touch on on a tart or clustered atop a crème brûlée or pudding of some sort.
Sparkling Cranberries: What Type of Sugar?
Over the years I've discovered this detail is key. I've experimented with a range of sugars with varying degrees of success. Some work better than others. In the beginning, I wanted to make them with a maple sugar coating - but the cranberries looked like they had been dropped in dust. The same goes for raw cane sugar, coconut sugar, and Rapadura. I gave up trying to do a less refined sugar version. On the other end of the sugar spectrum, extra-fine grain sugar didn't work well either. The results were too clumpy. Essentially, the best way to get a good sparkling sugar crust on your cranberries is to first roll them in an slightly-chunky white sugar. The larger sugar grains retain structure despite the moisture from the simple syrup. Later in the process, toss them in regular, standard granulated sugar. The small grains of the granulated sugar cling to any spots that are still sticky from the simple syrup.
They are simple to make, but you need to do the first step the night before. I like to toss the cranberries in sugar the next morning, and off and on throughout the day so they have time to dry and crisp up.
Variations:
There are endless ways to add layers of flavor to your sparkling cranberries.
- Cardamom Sparkling Cranberries: In the comments Aimee mentioned, ”I made my simple syrup with cardamom sugar to give it even more of a holiday flavor.” This got me thinking, you could steep a few cardamom pods along with the water and sugar, and strain before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. And/or add a teaspoon of finely crushed cardamom to your sugar mixture before tossing with the cranberries.
- Citrus Sparkling Cranberries: By introducing the zest of an orange or two to your simple syrup pot, you can infuse the simple syrup with notes of winter orange. Strain and proceed with the recipe.
Also, use the leftover simple syrup in holiday drinks and cocktails!
More Holiday Recipes
- 15 Festive Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Black Sticky Gingerbread Cake
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Fluffy Vanilla Nougat
- Candied Walnuts
- What To Eat Christmas Morning
Premium Ad-Free membership includes:
-Ad-free content
-Print-friendly recipes
-Spice / Herb / Flower / Zest recipe collection PDF
-Weeknight Express recipe collection PDF
-Surprise bonuses throughout the year
Sparkling Cranberries
One of the keys here is allowing enough time for the cranberries to dry and crisp up as you're tossing them to coat with sugar throughout the day. For the simple syrup, use 2 cups of granulated sugar. For the sugar coating, I do a mix of medium-large sugar for the first coating, and then a second toss with regular granulated white sugar. You don't want a *huge* grain for that first toss, just something larger than standard sugar. You can sort of see the different grain sizes in the third photo in the main write-up. Have fun!
- 2 cups cranberries, picked over
- 2 cups water
- 3+ cups sugar, mixed types (see headnotes)
-
Place the cranberries in a medium glass bowl and set aside.
-
Make a simple syrup by bringing the water and 2 cups of granulated sugar just to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Let the syrup cool for a couple minutes and then pour it over the cranberries. If the syrup is too hot the cranberries will burst, so be careful. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
-
The next day, drain the cranberries and toss them, in batches, with larger grained sugar until they are well coated. I only use a scoop of sugar at a time, and small batches of cranberries, so the sugar doesn't get too damp. Place the coated cranberries on a baking sheet, in a single layer, to dry for a few hours.
-
Do a second toss with the regular granulated sugar, this typically takes care of any sticky spots on the cranberries. Let dry another hour or so, or until the sugar coating is dry and crisp.
Makes 2 cups of sparkling cranberries.
Related Recipes
Simple Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
This is the recipe I use anytime I want perfect sugar cookies. Great flavor, and the dough is a dream to work with.
15 Festive Christmas Cookie Recipes
A list of Christmas cookies worth their weight in sugar! From gingerbread to classic shortbread, sugar cookies to triple ginger cookies. They’re all festive and fantastic. Happy holidays all!
Triple Ginger Cookies
These are the ginger cookies you want to make. A special triple ginger cookie made with three kinds of ginger and a hit of lemon zest. Cracked and sugar-crusted on the outside, dense and moist within.
What to Eat Christmas Morning (12 Recipes)
A dozen Christmas morning breakfast ideas for anyone trying to figure out what to cook and eat on Christmas morning.
Black Sticky Gingerbread Cake
This black sticky gingerbread cake recipe makes an outrageously dark, dense, flavorful and delicious cake. The burnt-caramel-esque crust that forms on the top of the cake is part of what makes this recipe a keeper.
Candied Walnuts
Caramelized and toasted, these crunchy candied walnuts use brown sugar and spices to deliver the perfect snack or topping.
Post Your Comment
Comments
I love making sugared cranberries! Such a tasty and diffferent treat. A welcome break from all the pies and cookies!
Great way to use that extra bag of cranberries I bought at the store last week! Although, I'm afraid these might be a tad too easy to snack on constantly!!
Stunning and simple! I can totally see how you have to go regular sugar here. It's too bad but, heck, it's that time of year for sure :-)
Genius! What a great idea for a winter cheese plate!
Heidi, Thanks for the Sparkling Cranberries recipe. I am going to do this for Christmas day. I also love mixing cooked cranberries with finely chopped pecans and cream cheese to stuff celery bites and to stuff jumbo black olives. Something about the combination of cranberries, pecan, and cream cheese really makes great spread and raw veggie and olive stuffing. My family always asks for this every holiday .
These are beautiful and they look delicious! I can't wait to try these!
My Goodness Heidi! These look incredible. I just want to pop on my mouth! YUM!
Oh those are just beautiful!!!
My daughter (now 12 years old) has made these every Christmas since she was 7! We store them in the refrigerator. They are cold and crunchy sweet on the outside and explode with tartness when you bite them. I'm thinking of adding them to a salad with blue cheese and walnuts....... We will try your sugar variation this year!
What a beautiful addition to a holiday table! My mind is racing with all the possibilities. Great tips about the right sugars to use.
Those are so beautiful and intriguing, I can't wait to try them!
Wow. I've got to try these, they look beautiful. Amazing photography as usual. Thanks for the idea!
These are beautiful! I am going to make them for our holiday party. I wonder how sweet they are. i think I might have a batch of overly tart cranberries. I wonder if this amount of sugar sweetens them up enough to eat alone. Either way, I am making them for my party table! Thank you.
Heidi, This is amazing color to pop a salad or topping off a bowl of hot oatmeal in the morning! cheers!
Visions of sparkling cranberries will now dance in my head.. (have you ever actually tried to sugar plums? Gee - this is the first time I have given the phrase deep thought). Thank you for your always beautiful images. It's such a pleasure to find this in the morning RSS feed. Happy Holidays, Michaela
I can't wait to try these! Ibet they have the perfect balance of sweet and tart! The color is fabulous!
These are so cute! I can't wait to try them.
So pretty! My sister has vetoed decorating our apartment for Christmas (we won't be spending Christmas here) so I am consoling myself by putting Not-Quite-Christmas-Decorations about the place: pine cones and sprigs of greenery and cheery poinsettias....and as much festive food as I can make. These look ideal for my purposes!
These festive cranberries are simply gorgeous, Heidi!
Oh dear, I think those would be a massive hit at my house!!