Jekka's take on Cranberry Sauce is wonderful served with both sweet and savory dishes, lovely with meringue pavlova, with cheese, or with turkey or duck. The perfect accompaniment to your Christmas feast.
Jekka's Cranberry Meringue Pavlova was featured in Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh where Alan remarked that the orange balanced the tartness of the cranberries. Served with the sweet Meringue makes the perfect combination and the best alternative, gluten free, mince pie.
Ingredients:
- 450 g cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 110 g granulated sugar
- 130 ml red wine
- Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1 stick of cinnamon, or 2 tsps
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
For Jekka's Cranberry Meringue Pavlova:
- Meringues:
- 3 large egg whites
- 175 g white caster sugar
- Edible flowers (Jekka recommends Marigold, Sage and Borage flowers)
- Chopped Mint leaves
Steps:
- Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring up to a very gentle simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Simmer for about 45 mins, stirring from time to time until you have a lovely thick mass of glazed cranberries.
- Remove from the heat:
- Either, put into a sterilised jar, which has been sterilised in the oven at 120 Deg C for 20 mins and is still hot. Seal with a fitting lid while still hot. This will then keep for 4 weeks in a refrigerator.
- Alternatively, add to a serving bowl once cooled, cover, this will keep for a couple of weeks.
- Serve with cheese, cold meats or follow the steps below to create Jekka's Cranberry Meringue Pavlova.
To create Jekka's Cranberry Meringue Pavlova:
- First make the meringues by:
- Preheating an oven to 140°C/fan120°C/gas 1 and lining a baking tray with baking paper.
- Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks in a large, grease-free mixing bowl.
- Then, slowly add the caster sugar 1 tbsp at a time while continuously whisking until you have a stiff, glossy meringue mixture.
- Using two spoons, make put 6 dollops of meringue and gentle push down the middle of the meringue with the back of the teaspoon to make an indent like a nest to hold the Confit of Cranberries. Alternatively, you can pipe and construct disks.
- Bake for 1¼ hours for mallowy centres, or 1½ hours if you prefer crisper meringues. Peel off the baking paper, then transfer the mallowy meringues to a wire rack to cool, or leave the crisp ones in the turned-off oven for at least 4 hours to cool slowly, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Once cooled, spoon approximately 2 teaspoons of the Confit of Cranberries on to a meringue (depends on the size of your indent), scatter with chopped Mint leaves and decorate with Marigold and Borage flowers.
If you love the sounds of this recipe and herb-based cooking check out our Master Classes and other Herb-based recipes.