Sparkling Cranberries

Sparkling Cranberries — a fun, festive way to present cranberries for the Christmas holidays!

I love cocktail parties! It’s so much fun getting dressed up and having your besties over for elegant appetizers, fun cocktails, and champagne, celebrating the holidays together. Between choosing the right outfit and decorating your space, you could easily get overwhelmed with too many complicated dishes. Why not make something simple, yet glittery and pretty, to serve at your next soiree?

A delicious way to use sparkling cranberries: a cranberry and brie appetizer... so easy!

These Sparkling Cranberry appetizers are beautiful, elegant, and tasty. The cranberries pop with sugar-coated tartness, enveloped by creamy brie. A basil leaf adds just a touch of savoury spiciness to balance the sweetness, and the tiny hint of raspberry jam holds it all together. Serve these with a glass of pink bubbles to complete the sparkle effect!

Click for the recipe…

Sparkling Cranberry & Brie AppetizerMakes about 2 dozen

Ingredients
2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
Your favourite crackers
1 wedge Triple Creme brie cheese
Raspberry jam
Fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Pour syrup into a large bowl, add cranberries, and stir to coat all the berries. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Drain syrup from cranberries.* Place 1 cup of sugar in a large baking dish. Working in small batches, put about 1/4 cup of drained cranberries into the sugar, and shake the dish back and forth, so that the cranberries roll around in the sugar and are completely coated. Put sugared berries onto a baking sheet. Once all the cranberries are sugared, let stand, uncovered, for about an hour or until dry.
4. To serve, place a slice of brie on a cracker, add a 1/2 teaspoon of jam, add 3 or 4 cranberries and a leaf of basil.

Serve immediately.

This article was originally published in the Winter 2015 issue of Stimuli Magazine.