Defrosting the Freezer – so Baked Cranberries
Wednesday August 14th 2013, 7:32 pm

baked cranberries with orange and cardamon

Yes it has been a while since I last posted, so long in fact that I have forgotten how. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been idle. For anyone who doesn’t know already, I do post regularly on facebook so do feel free to like my page and then you can follow what I am up to.

The other day it became imperative that I defrost the freezer. I don’t like my freezer particularly as it is a dumping ground for things I tend to forget about, all the while it is costing money to run. But it does offer a convenient and practical option now and again and I daresay for some foods it is the best way to preserve them. I fill the freezer up with stuff as it is effortless to do so but I prefer bottles on shelves to a forgotten freezer-full, out of sight out of mind. The other day I realised the freezer was defrosting of its own accord, demanding some attention, so I gave it a good clear out, defrosted it, washed it down with bicarb then switched it on all ready to start the process again. There were luckily few casualties, I took the opportunity to edit down the contents, but 2 bags of cranberries, put away last Christmas (or could it have been the year before!) and some redcurrants from last summer had started to thaw so needed using up.

With an abundance of freshly picked summer fruits in urgent need of preserving, these blasts from the past were something I could do without, but there was no way I wanted them to go to waste either. The redcurrants went into a traubleskucha redcurrant cake courtesy of nadel & gabel. The cake was a big success; a light sponge base with a layer of tart redcurrants topped with a macaroon lid that cracked and splintered as the fork went in. I’ll be making that one again and perhaps will add some vanilla or almond extract to the sponge next time too. So highly recommended and you may still find some currants for sale, my local supermarket has them right now.

So that left the cranberries. In the UK, fresh cranberries are only for sale for 2 minutes round Christmas time. Last year Sainsburys sold Kent grown cranberries but only in selected Kent stores. Otherwise they are always imported. I’m sure I’ve seen them all year round for sale at the farm shop down the road that sells frozen fruits loose from big tubs, that you can buy by weight by the scoopful. I haven’t had cranberries enough to really develop a love for them .. till now anyway.

For inspiration I decided to refer back to one of my all time favourite books, an American book I have mentioned before, Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty (1986) and her recipe for baked cranberries with orange and cardamon is a triumph. You can eat it like jam or a compote, it is somewhere between the two, and it is the easiest preserve you will ever make, requiring no bringing to setting point. The flavour is fresh and amazing and even though it is out of season, I am wolfing it down and planning the next batch. Eat it as an accompaniment to savoury dishes too, in the same style as a traditional cranberry sauce. It isn’t overly sweet, it’s just right. The sugar content is not high enough to make a preserve that will keep, so best store in the fridge, if it lasts that long, or do what I do and water process (can / bottle) it so it will keep on the shelf for a year or more.

baked cranberries with orange and cardamon

BAKED CRANBERRIES WITH ORANGE AND CARDAMON

Makes approx 5 x 250g (half pint) jars

600g (1lb 5oz) cranberries
1 large seedless orange
500g (1lb 2oz) white sugar
1/8 tsp ground cardamon (seeds removed from pods and freshly ground)
60ml (4 Tbsp) water

Pre-heat the oven to 175C /350F /Mk4. Spread the cranberries in a ovenproof glass dish (I used 2 square Pyrex baking dishes). Remove the peel from the orange and pull away and discard the pith from inside and any surrounding the flesh. Chop the orange and peel roughly and blitz it in a blender or food processor to make a pulpy puree.

Pour the puree, sugar, cardamon and water over the cranberries and mix everything together. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160C / 325F / Mk3, remove the foil and bake for a further 50-60 minutes, turning the mixture over with a spoon every 10-15 minutes. The cranberries will look slightly translucent and be surrounded by syrup.

Spoon the hot preserve into hot sterilised jars and seal, or alternatively process them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water bath and leave till cold before testing the seals.

Landlove magazine feature

I’ve got 6 pages in Landlove magazine this month. The magazine isn’t available online so until it is off the newstands, you will have to buy a copy to read it. I’m really pleased with the feature and I think it captures the spirit of what preserving is all about for me.



FESTIVE JAM FROM FAR FLUNG PLACES
Monday December 19th 2011, 9:57 am

Cranberry apricot and pineapple Christmas jam

I prefer to use the ingredients I find on my doorstep, but sometimes occasion decrees it’s time to push the boat out. I’d love to find homegrown cranberries but have never seen them for sale on my travels, though Sainsburys are selling Kent grown cranberries this year, but only available in that area. So for my special Christmas jam, my cranberries are from the US, dried apricots from Turkey and pineapple from Costa Rica. I hope all you locavores will forgive me! For some of you lucky enough, these ingredients will be on your doorstep.
I saw mention of this combination in an old book of mine and thought it worth exploring. In that recipe the pineapple came in a tin and for my first experiment I used a tin of crushed pineapple in natural juice. Having noticed fresh pineapples not much different in price to tinned, I decided to use fresh for my second batch. Both work well with perhaps the fresh having just that added zing you might expect. The final flourish – apricot brandy, just makes this fabulous jam extra special, befitting the season.
The fruits cook down to a ‘feltly’ consistency, which from my experience means you need to watch it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan and burn. So don’t leave the bubbling jam kettle for even a minute or your jam may be spoilt. My recipe calls for relatively little sugar. This does mean that it is advisable to store the preserve in the fridge or the ideal alternative, do like I do and can it. That way it will store for a year or even longer. Serve on toast, scones or with your celebration meal as a relish. I’m off to make some more.

Cranberry apricot and pineapple Christmas jam

CRANBERRY, APRICOT AND PINEAPPLE JAM

Makes 1.3Kg (5 x 1/2pt jars)

1 med size pineapple, approx 1100g (2 1/2lbs) in weight or a 432g (15oz) tin crushed pineapple in juice
150g (5oz) dried apricots
300g (1x 12oz pack) fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained
450g (1lb) sugar
apricot brandy (optional)

Prepare the pineapple; slice off the top and base and pare away the skin. Chop down through the centre lengthways and cut into 4, then remove the woody core. Slice the flesh into chunks then pulse in a food processor to give a fine texture. Pour into a sieve over a bowl and collect the juice that drips through. With my 1100g pineapple, this gave me 280g (10oz) pulp and 200ml (7 fl oz) of juice. (You don’t need to be spot on here just aim for approximately that amount.) Chop the apricots into small even pieces and place in a bowl with 200ml (7 fl oz) of boiling water plus the pineapple juice and leave to soak for several hours or overnight.
If you plan to can (water process) your jam, prepare the water bath and jars and place jar seals in a pan of hot water on the hob. Alternatively, prepare clean jars by sterilising them in a low oven, keeping them warm till needed. Place the cranberries, apricots, crushed pineapple and soaking juices in a preserving pan. Add another 200ml (7 fl oz) water and cook gently for approximately 20 minutes, until the cranberries have started to pop and the mixture combines and takes on a ruby glow. Remove from heat for 5 minutes then add the sugar. Stir over a gentle heat until completely dissolved, then up the heat and bring to a rolling boil, taking great care that it doesn’t burn. It only takes 5-10 minutes before you can see the texture is thickened and a small blob on a cold plate will hold its shape. Turn off the heat. Leave for 5 minutes then stir in 3-5 Tbsp apricot brandy.
Pour into prepared hot jars leaving 0.5cm (1/4in) headroom, tap jars on worktop to de-bubble, clean rims and seal, then process for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water bath and leave until completely cold before testing the seals. Alternatively, pot the hot jam into clean hot jars and seal then store in the fridge when cold.

Cranberry apricot and pineapple Christmas jam



FESTIVE APRICOTS, CRANBERRIES & BOOZE
Sunday December 05th 2010, 1:06 am

dried apricots golden sultanas and Amaretto - the raw ingredients

Month twelve, the very last Tigress’s can jam canning challenge and for December the ingredient chosen by the wonderous Tigress herself, who set the whole ball rolling in the first place, is dried fruits in all their jewelled and seasonal glory. Must admit, apart from chutneys, don’t think I’ve ever used dried fruits in my preserves so this is new for me.
Yet again Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty, my all time favourite book, provided the inspiration. Her dried apricot & amaretto conserve sounded just perfect to meet the criteria of this months challenge, though I’m not a fan of adding alcohol to my jams. Well I say I’m not, that should be, I wasn’t. Over the last year I have discovered how a little splash of kirsch takes sour cherries from quite nice to amazing. Likewise a spoonful of calvados added to apple butter, or some Cointreau poured over squashed plums can take mundane to magnificent, adding something not necessarily consciously alcoholic but that somehow completes the balance of flavours in a wonderful way.
This did mean I had to shell out for a bottle of Amaretto, the down side of acquiring a stock of liqueurs, they don’t come cheap. Thankfully, this jam turned out even better than expected, really special in fact, so now I’ve got plenty of the ingredients left to make more of the same to give as presents. I added fresh cranberries to my jam which are great not only for their flavour and seasonality but for the lovely colour they bring. After I’d made the jam and started to think what it would go well with, ‘warm croissants’ absolutely shouted out to me.

a festive preserve - Apricot, Cranberry and Amoretti jam

I have opted for bright orange sulphured apricots over the darker unsulphured variety for my jam because I can’t bear the thought of starting out with dark brown fruit. It doesn’t bode well in my mind, brown fruit can only get doomier as it cooks, and for a special holiday preserve you want to push the boat out a bit. This preserve could take even less sugar that I used. I did a sugar test on it using a refractrometer and found that it contained 57%. For a preserve to store well without canning, it should be nearer to 65%, so if you aren’t into canning and want to be sure this jam will store in the pantry for any length of time without worrying it will go mouldy, I’d advise you to up the sugar content from 450g to 600g, but taste wise it doesn’t benefit from it. The added alcohol will also help to act as a preservative. This jam tastes so good it most likely wont hang around long enough anyway. If you are not into canning, this should make it obvious why canning is so brilliant. You can preserve using less sugar so the overriding flavour of your jam is the fruit it contains, not sugar. Preaching over, here’s the recipe.

jam with croissant for breakfast

APRICOT, CRANBERRY AND AMARETTO JAM

Makes approx 1.4Kg (3 lbs) jam

225g (8oz) dried apricots
150g (5 1/2oz) golden sultanas or raisins
0.90 ltr (3 1/2 cups) water
225g (8oz) fresh cranberries
1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest
0.25ltr (1 cup) freshly squeezed orange juice
2Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
450g (3 cups) sugar
3Tbsp Amaretto liqueur

Chop the apricots into small evenly-shaped pieces. Place them in a bowl with the sultanas and pour over 0.75ltr (3 cups) water. Leave to soak overnight.
Next day, prepare the water bath, jars and seals ready for canning. For more info about how to hot water process, refer to the guide here. Place the cranberries in a pan with the remaining water and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until the fruits have popped and are cooked through. Leave to cool slightly, then add all of the remaining ingredients (including soaking liquid) except the Amaretto.
Stir to dissolve the sugar and once it has, turn up the heat to a rolling boil and bring the jam to setting point (took me about 10-15 minutes), that is when a dollop on a cold plate readily forms a skin that wrinkles when you push your finger over the surface. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes then stir in the Amaretto. Pour into hot sterilised jars, seal and process for 10 minutes. Remove from the water bath and leave till completely cold before testing the seals and labelling.

fresh cranberries

IT’S A WRAP

Well that’s it. A whole year of the Tigresscanjam completed and wow, it has been amazing. I intend to write another post soon to round up what I’ve learnt and how it has changed my approach to preserving. Thanks to dearest Tigress for taking the time to not only oversee the challenge and the monthly roundups but for asking me to take part. To think that this experience could have passed me by …. well what can I say, how foolish I would have been without that gentle nudge.
I have found all you other canjammers participating truly inspiring. Thanks to all of you for helping me learn so much. As well as introducing me to Meyer lemons, Concorde grapes and Seckel pears, ingredients I will no doubt spend the rest of my life trying to experience first hand, amongst other things, too many to mention here, I’ve got over a few hangups I had about American-isms (and Canadian-isms if there is such a thing) such as ‘canning’. We are of course divided by a common language and as the only Brit taking part, I hope that you’ve likewise picked up some of the flavour of our approach to ‘bottling’ here in the UK. – Love G x