CRANBERRY SWEETS FOR HOLIDAY TREATS
When fresh cranberries are in season, I buy lots of them. I have to admit the truth: I am cranberry mad! This superfood is rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and hearthealth benefits. They taste great in a variety of recipes. And they keep for a long time. I only wish I had a larger freezer so I could enjoy them all year round.
Wild cranberries were a Native American staple as long as 12,000 years ago. When European contact occurred, Native tribal members showed European settlers how to use cranberries for everything from food to medicine to dye. Cranberries were especially useful crushed and mixed with meat and tallow for an old-time “energy bar” known as pemmican.
But the settlers also had their own ideas, because cranberries resembled a fruit found in the bogs of Europe. So they adapted the cranberry to make a sour fruit sauce for roasted meat. And eventually, with the availability of honey, the cranberry was incorporated into confits, pies and breads.
I, too, use cranberries in lots of ways, including in main course cooking — they are great in beef stew, for instance. But when the holidays approach, cranberries are the star of my dessert table. I would like to share some of my favorites with you for the coming holidays. I have selected these recipes for variety, attractive looks and, of course, deliciousness.
In New Mexico, the holidays mean baking traditional biscochitos, and there are dozens if not hundreds of wonderful family recipes. For my part, I break a little from tradition by adding dried cranberries. The flavor combination works, as cranberries are wellmatched with the traditional flavors in the cookies — anise, bourbon and orange, and cinnamon sugar. I use shortening rather than lard in my recipe, but otherwise I am true to the main idea.
To make biscochitos, cooks
typically roll out thin sheets of the fragile dough and use cookie cutters in their favorite designs. However, I used a different technique for a more rustic-looking cookie. I handroll my dough in 1-inch balls, dipped one side in cinnamon sugar, and press them flat with a cookie stamp. Either way, I recommend you bake a double batch and package in halfdozen bundles for your cookie exchange. (For the Zia design on the cookie, I used a beautiful handmade ceramic cookie stamp from Rycraft; $12.99 plus shipping; rycraft.com.)
My holiday fare always includes pumpkin in some form or another. I am especially fond of a good pumpkin bread with fresh cran
berries — a versatile loaf that is perfect for breakfast and just as perfect for dessert! I like using highly nutritious ingredients, so one loaf of my cranberry pumpkin bread contains a whopping two cups of pumpkin and two cups of fresh cranberries. I baked mine in a festive loaf pan, which works beautifully for a large crowd. But I also recommend that you make several mini-loaves to share with family and friends. Wrap them in cellophane bags with ribbons and a gift tag. You will get rave reviews.
Finally, for the piece de resistance, I looked no further than Bonnie Lee Black’s Cranberry Walnut Tart from her new cookbook Sweet Tarts For My Sweethearts. Easily accomplished with a prebaked tart shell and a few simple ingredients, the not-too-sweet walnut honey filling showcases the tart cranberries. Bonnie’s Cranberry Walnut tart tastes a bit like a playful variation on pecan pie. This tart would be a great addition to your annual sweets array. And if you have mini tart pans, or even a muffin tin, you can divide up the pie dough and the filling to make small individual tarts for each of your special holiday guests.
Why not give all three of these recipes a try? Whether for your own holiday table or holiday gifts, I hope this delectable variety of cranberry sweets will please and satisfy your family and friends this season.
Happy Holidays!