Shades of Dessert

One of the funny things in life is that once you are conscious of something, you notice it everywhere. This happened while I was living in Pittsburgh; and is what I like to call “The Rubber Band Effect” (for dramatic purposes of course). One early morning, as I was standing at the bus-stop, I noticed a rubber-band at my feet. A few inches away, another settled itself in a concrete-crack. That day, and for rest of my year in Pittsburgh, I lived amongst rubber bands: they announced their presence wherever I was. Before Kelli, I had no appreciation for desserts. Don’t get me wrong, I did have a sweet tooth. But I didn’t know my ganache from my wrong. Now, I notice desserts wherever I am. As testament, I was browsing Professor John Maeda’s website the other day (which is about technology and culture, not food) and in his somewhat cluttered archive page, the words “Simple Candy” just seemed to pop out at me as if they had sensed my digital presence, knew I would be interested, and whispered in hushed murmurs, “Ho there! Look here! Here I am; you are one of us.” Proof that now I too, see life in shades of dessert.

Oh and by the way, Professor Maeda’s post was about tasty Sugared Cranberries he had received as a gift from a friend. He reveled in their simple aesthetic (and therefore re-named them “simple candy”). I’ll cut to the chase and offer up the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup superfine sugar

Instructions:
Combine granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring mixture until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Stir in cranberries; pour mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl, reserving steeping liquid, if desired. Place superfine sugar in a shallow dish. Add the cranberries, rolling to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry.

Note: The steeping liquid clings to the berries and helps the sugar adhere. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.

Yield: 9 servings (serving size: about 1/3 cup)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 118 (0.0% from fat); FAT 0.0g (satfat 0.0g, monofat 0.0g, polyfat 0.0g); PROTEIN 0.1g; CARBOHYDRATE 30.4g; FIBER 0.9g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; IRON 0.1mg; SODIUM 0.0mg; CALCIUM 2mg;

Recipe Source: Cooking Light-December 2003

Thank you John Maeda!

Posted by Andrew M. Lin at 8:53 am. Follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a trackback from your own site.