Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

I have 3 ‘favorite’ cranberry sauce recipes that I tend to rotate through from year to year. This year, I decided make them all (plus a couple more) to see which one truly was my favorite. I invited a taste-tester to join me and we both agreed, this one was the winner.

Now, I know for some people, holiday meals aren’t complete without canned cranberry sauce, but if you’ve never made it from scratch, I urge you to give it a try. It’s super easy to make, tastes amazing, and you can keep it in the fridge for weeks so it can be made way in advance.

Okie dokie - to begin we’ll need whole cranberries (fresh or frozen), pomegranate juice, and sugar.

Combine the ingredients together in a heavy-bottomed 2-qt or larger sauce pan.

Heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to boil.

Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries pop open and the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes).

And that’s all there is to it. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Serve warm or cold. Happy Holidays!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• 2 quart le creuset saucepan https://amzn.to/2XIMeFr

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Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

makes about 2 1/2 cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups (8 ounces) whole cranberries (fresh or frozen)

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup pomegranate juice

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a 2-quart or larger saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries break down and the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes.

Blackberry Fools

I found the most amazing blackberries at the market the other day - they were super sweet and delicious and I couldn't wait to use them to make Blackberry Fool, an incredibly simple, yet elegant dessert. 

In case you're wondering, fruit fool recipes first started appearing in the year 1598 - the word fool is thought to be derived from the french word "fouler" which means to press or mash.

When choosing blackberries, pick ones that are completely black, and taste them to make sure they're sweet because they won't ripen after being picked. 

To make blackberry puree, place ripe blackberries and lemon zest in a personal blender or small food processor.

Blitz the berries until completely pulverized.  

Then pass the puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.  A silicone scraper is pretty helpful here.

Blackberries contain a LOT of seeds so you definitely want to remove them (discard them or feed them to the chickens). 

Mmmm.... smooth, seedless blackberry puree.

To make blackberry fool, fold together 1 part blackberry puree and 4 parts sweetened whipped cream (recipe below).

You can leave the mixture a little streaky if you like - I think the streaks look kind of cool.

Or if you're a bit compulsive and you can't help but continue to fold the two components together until they're completely mixed, go for it.  You do you.

Spoon or pipe the mixture into dessert cups.  The dessert cups I chose (these) have very small openings so I filled them using a pastry bag to keep the cups neat and clean.  

To complete the presentation, pipe some leftover whipped cream on top using a large closed star tip (like this one) and garnished with a mint leaf.  Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• microplane grater https://amzn.to/2PZLO9s

• fine mesh strainer https://amzn.to/2wAHMw8

• adorable mini dessert glasses https://amzn.to/2NMLnhr

• disposable pastry bags https://amzn.to/3uEH3cg

• closed star pastry tube https://amzn.to/2oCWfmI

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Blackberry Fools

Makes 6-8 mini desserts (3-ounce)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 ounces ripe blackberries (or other berries)

• zest from 1/2 lemon

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make berry puree by blitzing berries with lemon zest in a personal blender or small food processor; strain seeds and discard.

2. In a small mixing bowl, whip heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla using a handheld mixer until stiff peaks form.

3. In another small mixing bowl, fold together 6 tablespoons strained blackberry puree and 1 1/2 cups of sweetened whipped cream until combined (a few streaks remaining look lovely).

4. To neatly fill dessert cups, transfer berry and cream mixture to a piping bag and carefully fill six 3-ounce mini dessert cups (eight dessert cups if you don't fill them as full).

5. Place remaining whipped cream in another piping bag filled with a closed star tip and top each dessert.

6. Garnish with a mint leaf and/or a drizzle of the remaining blackberry puree.

Note

• The blackberries can be substituted with other seasonal berries.