Cranberry Fool Food

CRANBERRY MOLD

Steps:

• Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.
• Heat 1/2 cup cranberry juice over low heat, then stir in a 1/4-ounce packet gelatin. Puree cooled cranberry sauce with another 1/2 cup cranberry juice, then add the gelatin mixture. Pour into a mold or empty soup cans and refrigerate overnight. Serve with whipped cream.

CRANBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the cranberry sauce, orange zest and allspice. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert dishes. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish with orange peel and mint if desired.

CANADIAN CRANBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• In saucepan of boiling water, simmer orange rind until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain through sieve into 2 cup measure; set rind aside. Add enough water to liquid to make 1 1/3 cups.
• In large heavy saucepan, combine reserved liquid, sugar and orange juice; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in cranberries and reserved rind; increase heat to high and boil, stirring often, until cranberries have popped and formed sauce, about 7 minutes. (Cranberry sauce mixture can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.).
• Up to 4 hours before serving, pick out and reserve 12 of the best looking berries from sauce. Transfer remaining cranberry mixture to large bowl; stir in orange liqueur (if using). Whip cream; fold into cranberry mixture, leaving streaks. Spoon into fruit nappies or stemmed glasses. Garnish each serving with reserved berry. Makes 12 servings.
• The Canadian Living Cookbook.

CRANBERRY-MANGO FOOL WITH GINGERSNAPS

Steps:

• Put the cranberry-mango relish in a food processor and process until smooth.
• Whip together the cream, sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cream in a separate bowl. Fold the puree into the remaining cream until just combined. Fill each red wine goblet 1/2 way with some of the fool and sprinkle with some of the gingersnaps. Fill the goblets the rest of the way with the fool, top with a dollop of the remaining whipped cream and a sprinkling of gingersnap.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add onions and ginger and cook until soft. Add orange juice and brown sugar and cook until the sugar is completely melted and the mixture thickens slightly, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add half of the cranberries and cook until they pop. Add remaining cranberries and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the mangoes and zest. Serve at room temperature.

CRANBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• Combine cranberries, sugar and 1/3 cup WATER.
• Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
• Simmer, covered, 5 minutes.
• Puree this mixture in blender with liqueur.
• Put in metal bowl and set in ice water.
• Allow to stand, stirring occasionally, until cool.
• Beat cream until it holds soft peaks.
• Stir 1/4 into mixture and then fold in remaining.
• Spoon into 2 stemmed glasses and chill 20 minutes or freeze for 10.

CRANBERRY FOOLS

Steps:

• Put the cranberries in a pan with 150g of the sugar. Gently heat until the sugar begins to melt, then cover and cook for 5-10 mins until the berries are soft. Mash with a potato masher and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in 200ml of the cream and chill until cool.
• In a bowl, whip the remaining cream with the remaining 50g sugar until soft peaks form. Scrape onto the cranberry mixture and fold 1-2 times to very lightly marble. Spoon between 5 small bowls - the fool will marble more as you spoon into the dishes. Cover and chill for at least 2 hrs or up to 24 hrs.
• Froth the egg white with a fork. Put the extra 3 tbsp sugar on a small plate. Tip the extra cranberries for decoration into the egg white, then drop into the sugar. Shake the plate to roll and coat the berries. Repeat a few times, leaving the sugar to set for a couple of mins between each. Chill until ready to serve.
• To serve, top each fool with a few sugared cranberries and serve with Cinnamon shortbread (see 'Goes well with').