Make room for cranberries on your holiday brunch table

The holiday season is filled with family traditions and my daughter complains bitterly if I ever try to change anything. Because the two holidays are only a month apart, I prefer to make the meals different for each — after all, how much turkey can one person eat?

The one ingredient I do use in both holiday meals, however, is fresh cranberries — a family favorite.

Did you know that cranberries are picked two ways depending on how they are processed? In the commercials showing farmers wading through bogs of floating cranberries, the berries are being harvested for juice or sauce. The ones we get fresh in a bag or loose at the farmers markets are dry picked. In fact, the vines that cranberries grow on do not grow in water throughout their growing season. The bogs are only flooded to make the cranberries easier to pick, or to protect them from unseasonal frost.

This muffin recipe is made with fresh cranberries. In one bite you get the tartness of orange cranberry followed by sweet icing. They are perfect for holiday breakfasts and brunches because they can be made the day before and kept covered overnight.

The recipe comes from Delia Smith, a well-known chef and cookbook author in the United Kingdom. I made a few changes to her recipe, such as substituting royal icing for the fondant. Royal icing is powdered sugar and egg white that is whipped to a fluffy, almost marshmallow texture similar to that of meringue. Since golden caster sugar is hard to find here, I have substituted regular caster sugar (a fine-grained sugar), which you can purchase at some local markets such as United. Alternatively, you can make an easy substitute for caster sugar by processing regular white granulated sugar for about one minute in a food processor. I usually make a bigger batch than needed and keep the extra in a jar. It is great sprinkled over scones or breads.

It might seem that there are too many cranberries in the recipe, but the volume of the berries should be greater than the batter.  Also, don’t be tempted to skip sifting the dry ingredients —it makes a big difference in the lightness of the muffins.

RECIPE

Spiced Cranberry Muffin

Makes 10 muffins

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg, room temperature

¾ cup caster sugar, plus more for rolling the cranberries

Zest and juice of one orange

4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, at room temp

2 tablespoons milk

Frosted cranberries:

1 cup fresh cranberries rinsed plus 30 for topping

1 egg white

Royal icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg white

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 10 paper liners and put a couple tablespoons of water in the remaining empty cups (the water keeps the baking even and stops the pan from warping).Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

While the butter is cooling, place a mesh strainer over a large bowl and sift the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder and salt into the bowl.

In a measuring cup add egg, juice, zest, milk, and melted butter. Whisk to combine.