Cranberry and Orange Meringue Pie

I said I was cranberry obsessed didn’t I!!  This is another in my repertoire of cranberry and orange dishes and uses the same base as my compote and, indeed, my cranberry sauce! 

I just made a small one, as it is for two of us and we really are trying to keep the calories down in the run up to Christmas.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For two of us, in a 7" diameter quiche dish I used :

300g (10 to 12oz) of fresh cranberries

Juice and zest of a large orange

½ tsp of caster sugar (or more, to taste)

 

2 egg whites

2tb caster sugar

 

½ pack of shortcrust pastry

 

 

Firstly, pop a 300g (10/12oz) bag of cranberries into a saucepan with the zest and juice of an orange and ½ tsp of sugar (or more if you don’t like things as tart as I do!) and leave to simmer quietly until the cranberries pop and cook down. 

Line your dish with shortcrust pastry and bake blind for 25/30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked. * 

As soon as the pastry is cooked, add the cranberry compote to the dish. 

Beat two egg whites until they are stiff, add  2tb of caster sugar, 1tb at a time, until the egg whites are stiff and glossy.  Spoon onto the compote. 

Bake at 200^oC (400^oF / gas mark 6) for approximately 10 minutes, until the meringue is nicely browned.

 

 

 

I cant recommend ceramic baking beans enough here!  Over the years I have had many baking blind failures thanks to advice such as “use out of date dried beans, or rice”, so they are a sound investment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cranberry and Orange Compote

I had the inspiration for this from one of the lovely recipes I made over and over last summer, Summer Fruit Compote from Delia’s Summer Collection.  In truth, I owe my whole love affair with the cranberry to Delia!  The Winter Collection, published back in 1995 introduced me to the delights of Cranberry and Orange, and I haven’t looked back.  At the time, Delia was crowned the Cranberry Queen, but I think I could safely challenge her!  From the time the red berries appear in the supermarket, towards the end of November, until they disappear, around the end of December, I am obsessed!  My favourite way with them is simply to puree them in the blender with orange juice and enjoy them as a drink!  I think this is possibly an even better way of using them! 

In all honesty, this recipe is my cranberry sauce recipe, I simply added a dollop of cream and served it as a sweet course!  As simple as it is, I felt I had to share it with you all!  As always, you can increase the quantities to your needs and tastes.  I haven’t got much of a sweet tooth, and really enjoy the crisp tartness of cranberries so I have been very meagre with the sugar, do increase this if you don’t want to wince as you eat! 

For two people I used : 

10 to 12oz of fresh cranberries

Juice and zest of a large orange

½ tsp of caster sugar (or more, to taste)

Simply add all the ingredients to a small pan and cook over a low heat for a few minutes, until the cranberries pop and cook down. 

Leave to cool for 10 minutes or so, and then serve with either a dollop of cream, or thick Greek yoghurt.  

I found a lovely Mandarin and Valencia Orange extra thick cream with Grand Marnier at Sainsbury’s and this was perfect with the compote!

 

 

 

 

Blackberry Crumble

Crumble in any guise is a lovely comfort food.  Blackberry crumble is perfect at this time of year, and my absolute favourite. 

The simple rule of thumb with crumble recipes is that you need half the quantity of butter to flour, and the same amount of sugar as butter. 

For a small crumble for two of us I used : 

Approximately 8 to 12oz of blackberries 
2 or 3tsp sugar, to taste

6oz plain flour

3oz butter

3oz caster sugar 

Simply clean the blackberries (I always soak them in salted water for a few hours to get rid of any ‘visitors’!) and arrange in a buttered dish adding sugar to taste. 

In a food processor (or mixer, or by hand) mix the flour, sugar and butter together to achieve a breadcrumb texture.  Sprinkle the crumble topping over and cook at 200^oC / 400^oF / gas 6 for approximately 30 minutes or so. 

Best served with custard, although ice cream is nice too!

Rice Pudding

We’ve gone all retro here today!  Hubby doesn’t have any cricket today (outdoor during the summer, indoor during the winter – it rules our lives!) so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to make a proper Sunday Dinner.  I’ve bought a huge chicken, so that we’ll have plenty of leftovers!  Chicken soup and chicken pie here we come! 

Since we’ve stepped back in time to the 50’s, I thought I’d also make hubby a rice pudding.  This is a real taste of our childhood.  My grandmother used to make the best rice puddings, popped in the Rayburn to cook quietly until it turned into a dish of creamy unctuousness. 

This is how I make them today.  The quantities given below will provide four sensible servings.  I’d like to say we have leftovers for tomorrow ...... but we don’t! 

2oz short grain pudding rice

2tb sugar

Small knob of butter

Grated nutmeg

1 – 1 ½ pints of full cream milk* 

* I often add a small pot of single cream to the milk to make this extra creamy – it’s an occasional treat after all! 

Simply place all the ingredients into a buttered dish and bake in a low to medium oven for 2 – 2 ½ hours.  Stir two or three times during the first hour but leave for the remainder of the cooking time so that a lovely brown nutmeggy skin forms.  I always add a second grating of nutmeg after the final stir. 

You can cook this in the same oven as the Sunday roast, just pop it into the bottom of the oven. 

I serve it as it is, but some people like a spoonful of jam added.  The choice is yours!

N.B.  Pop your dish on an old baking tray to cook- I've lost count of the number of times mine have boiled over and it makes a terrible mess.  A baking tray contains the mess!

Steamed sponge pudding : with cranberries and orange

A true winter favourite!   The work of seconds to prepare, yet always gives the impression of having been a labour of love. 

A really adaptable little dish, you can add whatever you like to provide the sauce.  My personal favourite is golden syrup, hubby’s is raspberry jam.  In honesty though you could use any jam you like; cherry is very nice.  I’ve made it with lemon and orange curd too.

The size of the pudding you make can be quite simply adjusted if you think in terms of a sponge cake.  For two of us I simply make up a one egg sponge mix (2oz each of butter, sugar and flour). 

This particular little beauty is a cranberry and orange sponge pudding and I did as follows : 

Very generously grease a small pudding basin, this one is a pint and a half capacity.

Add about 150g of cranberries to a pan with 1tb of sugar, the grated zest and juice of a small orange and simmer quietly until the berries begin to pop.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy and then add the egg, then the flour.

Add the berries to the buttered dish and then the sponge mixture, levelling across the dish to cover the berries.

Cover the dish with a sheet of pleated greaseproof paper and then a sheet of pleated tin foil.  Then tie the cover to the basin securely with string, looping it around the top to make a handle.  This is much easier to accomplish if you place the basin on a wet dish-cloth to stop it slipping and sliding!

Place the dish in the steamer, cover and steam for an hour.  If you are making a bigger sponge mixture, then it will need longer steaming.

When the pudding has had its steaming carefully remove the string and the foil, protecting your hands with a cloth.  Test it with a skewer to ensure that it is cooked through.

Run a knife around the inside of the bowl and then place a plate over.  Carefully invert the dish on the plate and give it a shake to release the sponge.

What you should have, depending on the filling you are using, is a cooked sponge with a lake of sauce pouring down it.

As this was berries rather than jam, there wasn’t so much of a lake!   

Delicious served with custard, pouring cream or ice cream.

Cranberry and Orange Upside Down Cake

I love cranberries, I love them crisp and sharp and this time of year, as they are such a seasonal fruit, I stock up with as many as I can justifiably lay my hands on (!) and use them up in anything and everything.  Actually, my favourite is to blend them with some orange juice for a curiously frothy, but very tasty drink.

This recipe came about when I was toying with making a steamed sponge pudding, I recently tried the Nigella version of this but I found the butter with the cranberries far to cloying and greasy.  I much prefer the crisp tart flavour of cranberries without masking them.  I always use cranberries with orange, as I think they go so well together.

Anyhow, enough waffle!  Here’s what I used :

Appx 100 to 150 grammes of cranberries (depends on the size of your dish)

Zest and juice of half an orange

1tb caster sugar 

4oz butter or margarine

4oz caster sugar

4oz self raising flour

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract 

Butter a small quiche or pie dish (the one I used was 7” diameter) 

Add the cranberries, the grated zest of half an orange, the juice of half an orange and a tablespoon of caster sugar and put to one side. 

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and then gradually add the beaten eggs and the vanilla extract.  Stir in the flour until all combined and fluffy. 

Add spoonfuls of the sponge mixture to the dish of cranberries and carefully spread out with the back of a spoon. 

Cook in a low oven until the sponge is cooked.  I cooked mine at 150^oC for 50 minutes. 

Delicious with custard, or you could use cream or even ice cream.