Cranberries in sugar: a simple recipe, in powdered sugar, in glaze

Content

1 Preparing the berries
2 Recipe for cranberries in sugar
3 Cranberries in powdered sugar
4 Glazed cranberries recipe
5 Conclusion

In the fall, at the height of the cranberry season, the right time comes to prepare not only a tasty, but also a healthy delicacy from childhood - after all, not only children like cranberry in sugar, many adults enjoy using these candies as a preventative against many diseases. In addition, regular consumption of cranberry sweets helps maintain healthy skin and hair, helps with myopia, and reduces anxiety, which is very important in our difficult times.

Preparing the berries

To prepare this seemingly simple delicacy, fresh berries are best suited. However, frozen berries can also be used, but only on the condition that they are not choked and have completely retained their shape.

Advice! To make cranberries in sugar, it is advisable to choose large berries; from the rest it is better to cook fruit juice or make jelly.

The most important condition that cranberries must meet is to be completely dry. That is why, after careful selection and washing in cold water, they are laid out on a paper towel and left to dry for at least 8 hours. It is best to perform this operation in the evening. If moisture remains on the berries, they will not store well.And the delicacy itself may simply not work out due to the fact that the wet berries cannot be properly soaked in the sugar or protein glaze.

It is for this reason that cranberries in sugar are rarely made from frozen berries - after all, very often they do not retain their integrity during the defrosting process and it is difficult to use them to make this delicacy.

Recipe for cranberries in sugar

Although the sweetness is called “cranberries in sugar,” powdered sugar is most often used to make the dish. It is this that allows the delicacy to acquire such an unusually white, attractive appearance. Powdered sugar can be purchased at any grocery store or is even easier to make yourself. To do this you will need either a coffee grinder or a blender. From ordinary granulated sugar, snow-white powdered sugar is obtained in literally 30-40 seconds.

But according to the main recipe, granulated sugar will still come in handy. So, to prepare such a healthy delicacy, you only need three ingredients:

500 g cranberries;
500 ml water;
750 g granulated sugar.

The manufacturing process is simple, but will require some time.

First, make sugar syrup from the entire volume of water and 500 g of sugar. Boil water and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Comment! As a tasty and healthy addition to sugar syrup, a teaspoon of lemon juice is sometimes added, but this is not at all necessary.
The berries, placed in a container with a large flat bottom, are poured with warm syrup so that it completely covers all the berries.
After the syrup has cooled, cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, powdered sugar is prepared from the remaining amount of sugar in any convenient way.
The cranberries are removed from the syrup and rolled in powdered sugar.
With a small number of berries, this can be done manually, rolling the cranberries with your fingers like snowballs.
If there are quite a lot of berries, then it is better to place them in small portions in a deep flat container filled with powdered sugar. And shaking it in a circular motion, ensure that all the berries are evenly coated in sugar.
At the final stage of production, the cranberries in sugar must be slightly dried.
It is best to do this in an electric dryer or oven - at a temperature of about +40°+50°C, the sugar balls will dry in literally half an hour. At room temperature, the candies dry in 2-3 hours.

The finished treat can be stored in tin or dry glass jars, and small portions in cardboard boxes.
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The syrup in which the cranberries were soaked can also be used to make compote, fruit drink or various cocktails.

Cranberries in powdered sugar

There is another, no less interesting way of making cranberries in sugar, which uses egg whites.

The ingredients are also very simple:

1 cup cranberries;
1 egg;
1 cup powdered sugar.

Cooking will no longer take very long.

As usual, the strongest and most beautiful berries are selected.
The egg is divided into yolk and white. The yolk is no longer needed - it is used for other dishes. And the whites are lightly beaten, but there is no need to wait for foam to appear.
The cranberries are placed in a container with egg white and gently shaken for a while so that all the berries come into contact with the egg white.
Then, using a slotted spoon, transfer the cranberries to a colander to remove excess protein moisture.
Powdered sugar is placed on a flat dish, where cranberries are added in small quantities and they begin to roll each berry in sugar according to the already familiar pattern.
After the cranberry balls have reached the proper size and condition, they are carefully placed on a baking sheet covered with paper and dried in the oven at a temperature of no more than +50°C or in a warm, dry room.

Attention! Sometimes a tablespoon of potato starch is added to the powdered sugar and the berries are rolled in this mixture.

Glazed cranberries recipe

There are many variations of preparing cranberries in sugar using egg whites. Below is a recipe that is closest to the method by which this delicacy is made in a factory. According to a technology specially developed back in the mid-20th century, the berry must first be soaked in a special protein glaze, which, in addition to sugar and egg white, must include starch. It carries out the function of drawing excess moisture onto itself, due to which each berry is covered with a special crispy shell. Each housewife usually selects the exact proportions of starch for herself experimentally, but there should not be too much of it. By the way, the easiest way to find potato starch on sale, but when using corn and especially wheat starch, the product will turn out to be much more delicate in taste.

So, to prepare cranberries in sugar according to the recipe you will need:

250 g cranberries;
1 egg;
250 g powdered sugar;
about 2-3 tablespoons of potato starch;
2 teaspoons cinnamon optional;
1 tablespoon lemon juice optional.

The process of making sweets according to this recipe cannot be called complicated.

Cranberries are prepared and selected in a standard manner.
The white is separated from the yolk into a separate container.
Add a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and, if desired, lemon juice.
Mix the protein mixture thoroughly until smooth. There is no need to whip it into a strong foam.
Gradually add starch to the protein mixture and stir until a homogeneous, semi-liquid state is obtained. The glaze should turn out to be a rich white color, with a consistency reminiscent of not very thick condensed milk.
Place the prepared cranberries into the container with the glaze and begin to shake it constantly, ensuring that all the berries are covered with the glaze.
It is not advisable to use a spoon for stirring - it is better to leave the cranberries in the glaze for 4-6 minutes so that they are well saturated with it.
Meanwhile, in another container, prepare a mixture of powdered sugar and ground cinnamon. However, cinnamon is used only as desired, since a mixture with it will not give that snow-white effect for sprinkling cranberries.
Using a spoon with holes (a slotted spoon), begin to gradually transfer the berries from the glaze into a container with powdered sugar.

Do this in small portions, rolling each portion in sugar for at least 2-3 minutes to create a layer of sprinkling of a suitable size.
It is not always possible to immediately achieve the appropriate thickness of the berry coating layer.
If at first it seemed that the layer of sprinkling was insufficient, then the berries can be dipped into the glaze again, and then thoroughly rolled in powdered sugar again.
As a result, each berry will be covered with a strong armor of sugar and will look very attractive.
Well, the final stage, as usual, consists of drying - it is impossible to do without it, otherwise the berries will not live long.

Conclusion

Sweets “cranberries in sugar”, created according to the above recipes, will definitely delight all sweet lovers with their appearance and taste. They can be stored for quite a long time in dry and cool conditions and, placed in colorful packaging, can be an excellent gift for any occasion.