i heart cranberries

Have you noticed how plump and vibrant cranberries are this year?  I had to make cranberry relish for a luncheon last week and in the process, I fell in love. They are delish and tart, and the color is so pretty. They've been on sale for a buck a bag this week at Aldi, so I decided to buy a ton and try to dehydrate them. The experiment did not work as planned, but I made a discovery or two anyhow.

I took 7 cups of berries, washed and dried them, then blanched them in a 2 cup water, 2 cup sugar mixture which was simmering temperature, but off of the heat element. This was my plan to make them a little sweet. Then I placed them spaced apart so as not to touch on the dehydrator racks. A few of the berries popped when blanching, but most were still intact. I estimated they would need 6 to 8 hours in the machine based on the time apples take, as the dehydrator instructions did not include cranberries in the time estimates.

Seven hours later, the berries barely looked any different. Ten hours later a little shrinking had occurred. I checked them every couple hours and the progress was glacial. Finally, at 22 hours, the berries were much smaller, but still very moist inside. I called it a day and gave up. A few of the berries did dry out, these were the ones that had popped, so I guess the skins of these babies really work to hold in the moisture.

So as not to waste the berries, I took out the dried ones and put the rest in a pot with a little water, red wine, ground cinnamon, minced crystallized ginger, sugar, and vanilla extract to simmer for about 45 minutes. I strained this through a colander to get the skins out, as they were tough after all they'd been through. I ended up with 1 and 1/3 cups of cranberry paste, and 1/3 cup of dried. The best part, though is the paste is heavenly. The flavor is soooo dense and fresh. I put a little on my morning yogurt with granola and it is a perfect marriage of flavors. It would also be great on ice cream, french toast, or any number of things.

Tomorrow I will try again with the berries. This time I'll slice them in half and use two parts sugar to one part water for the blanching liquid to see if I can get a tad more sweetness. Wish me luck!