Cranberry Rum Cake

Agnes demonstrated a second cake recipe after the snack break.

The second cake is a Cranberry Rum Cake.

The Cranberry Rum Cake was also light and fluffy and the rum flavour was quite pronounced.

Ingredients

• 140 grams rum soaked cranberry
• — > make this by blanching 120 gram dried cranberries in boiling water and drain
• — > soak the blanched cranberries in 120ml rum overnight
• — > measure 140g out of the rum soaked cranberries
• 4 egg yolks
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 50 ml vegetable oil
• 85 ml warm milk
• 40 ml honey
• 85 grams cake flour (or 68 grams all-purpose flour + 17 grams cornstarch)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 5 egg whites
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (we omitted this)
• powder sugar for dusting

Agnes prepared the rum soaked cranberries ahead of time as it requires to be soaked overnight.

Cranberry Almond Spinach Salad

Minoo served the Fettuccine with Mushroom Cream Cheese Alfredo Sauce with a side salad of Cranberry Almond Spinach Salad.

The Cranberry Almond Spinach Salad has a nice balance of sweet and sour plus chewiness from the dried cranberries and crunchiness of the toasted almonds.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-sized pieces or 1 box of pre-washed baby spinach
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Source: this recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver

Serves 8

Cranberry Nut Loaf

Stella shared this lovely Cranberry Nut Loaf with the members of the South Arm Cooking Club for seniors. She was given a cook book by one of the members of the South Arm seniors titled “A World Community Cookbook’, Simply in Season. This recipe from extracted from this cookbook.

Stella insisted that everyone must try her cake because it is very rare for her to bake. Of course, we will never resist such a healthy cake loaded with flax seeds, cranberries and nuts.

Ingredients

Dry:

• 1 cup (250ml) whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (250ml) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (75ml) flax seed meal
• 1 1//2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet:

• 3/4 cup (175ml) sugar
• 3/4 cup (175ml) orange juice
• 1/4 cup (60ml) oil
• 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Additions:

• 1 1/2 cups (375ml) sweetened dried cranberries (coarsely chopped)
• 1/2 cup (125ml) walnuts or pecans (chopped)

This recipe yields 1 loaf.

Cranberry Orange Trifle

This Cranberry Orange Trifle is the dessert for the South Arm Cooking Club for seniors celebratory lunch. Stella decorated the dining tables with such festivities that adds the holiday mood to the meal.

This Cranberry-Orange Trifle recipe is adapted from Cooking Light. According to Cooking Light, the cranberries and custard can be made up to three days ahead. Then, simply assemble and refrigerate the trifle up to 24 hours before you plan to serve it.

Ingredients

Cranberries:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries

Custard:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons constarch
• 2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Remaining Ingredients:

• 1 (10.75-ounce) loaf pound cake (such as Sara Lee)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon orange rind

June, Christina and Chris work on this Cranberry Orange Trifle recipe which serves 12.

Cranberry Feta Pinwheels

For the first meeting in October, the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors whipped up 5 dishes.  What a great start for fall.  Stella decorated the dining tables with a spaghetti squash and some miniature pumpkins.  The squash and pumpkins are gifts from members of the community center.  Initially, Stella wanted to use the squash as a prize for some kind of quiz.  However, at the end of the cooking session, no quiz idea yet.  So, the squash went to whoever who wanted it and it went to Chris.   Stella also shared some pears and prune plums with us which she got free from friends who harvested them from their gardens.  It is the time of the year where lots of sharing is going around.

The first item on the dining table is Cranberry Feta Pinwheels.  These pretty pinwheels are perfect for a Christmas buffet with the festive colours of red from the dried cranberries and green from the chopped green onions.

The Cranberry Feta Pinwheels are great as appetizer.  They are so rich with the feta cheese and cream cheese.  This recipe is taken from tasteofhome.com.  Christina and Ken made this delicious pinwheels.

Cranberry Fruit Compote

We had another great cooking session in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Membership has risen this year from just a few people to more than ten people now. Minoo made a Turkey Chilli and a Cranberry Fruit Compote while Ade made a Japanese Squash and Tapioca Dessert. I had blogged about the Turkey Chili here before.

The lunch was great. It would be great if we have some crusty bread or spaghetti to go with the Turkey Chilli. What I enjoy most is to have two desserts in a meal.

The Cranberry Fruit Compote is great dish for Thanksgiving, to go with the turkey. It can be served as a dessert alone or to be topped with vanilla ice-cream. It is also great as breakfast or brunch when served on yogurt.

Fruit compote is also good for people who cannot eat fresh fruit for some health reason. You can make fruit compote with fresh fruit too like pear, apple, etc when they are in abundance. It is much easier to consume a cup of cook down fruit compote than eating 3 fresh fruits. When you make fruit compote with fresh fruit, you will need much less juice to start with since the fresh fruit will have a lot of juice in them.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried mission figs
• 1 cup dried Turkish apricots, pitted
• 1 cup dried prunes, pitted
• 1 cup raisins
• 3 cups apple juice
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 12 oz fresh cranberries

Click on Read More for the instructions.

Cranberry Sweet Potato Soup

The soup which the seniors made in the South Arm Community Kitchen is called Cranberry Sweet Potato Soup. Soup is just great for the colder fall weather. Moreover, most soup can be frozen in small batches for up to 2 months. Reheat the soup on the stove gently and you can have a bowl of hearty soup anytime.

October is the harvest time for cranberries and Richmond is the top producer of cranberries in BC. Cranberry is a superior source of nutrition and vitamins. It is an excellent source of antioxidants which helps to protect against cancer, heart disease and bladder infections. Cranberry juice is also rich in polyphenol content as in red wine which makes it a heart-healthy drink.

This Cranberry Sweet Potato Soup is a sweet soup with a hint of tanginess from the cranberries. It has a very strong flavour of cinnamon.

While one team is working on the soup recipe, another team worked on the dessert which is Apple Banana Muffin. I had blogged on the muffin recipe here.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped
• 1 large yam, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 4 cups low salt chicken broth
• 1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon (optional), recommend to change it to 1 teaspoon as the cinnamon flavour is too overpowering
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup skim milk
• parsley for garnish

Click on Read More for the instructions to make the Cranberry Sweet Potato Soup.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

The second recipe which Minoo shared with us in the Caring Place community kitchen was Apple Cranberry Crisp. This is a good way to include oats in a recipe. Oat is high in fiber and can help lower bad cholesterol and may reduce the risk of heart disease.

The Apple Cranberry Crisp is best served warm with some vanilla ice-creams. The apple goes really well with the cranberry. You may substitute the apples with peaches or cranberries with rhubarbs.

Ingredients

Crust:

• Approximately 1 1/2 cups oats
• Approximately 1/2 cup flour
• 2 to 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1/4 cup honey

Fruit mixture:

• a small can of cranberries (or 1/2 cup fresh cranberries, cooked)
• 2 to 3 apples, thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup honey

Cranberry Chutney

In line with the same theme, Minoo also made a dish with cranberries and orange juice on the same day I made the Cranberry Bread. She made a Cranberry Chutney. The Cranberry Chutney is great with turkey or chicken. This homemade Cranberry Chutney is flavored with ginger and garlic.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups cranberries (frozen is ok)
• 10 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• coarse salt and ground black pepper to taste

Click on the link below for the instructions.

Cranberry Bread

October is the month for cranberry harvesting. Do you know that the cranberry farm is flooded to harvest the cranberries? This year, the cranberry farm has a bumper crop due to the warm weather in Vancouver.

Cranberries are a source of polyphenol antioxidant, chemicals which are known to provide certain health benefits to the cardiovascular and immune system. Regular consumption of the cranberry juice is supposed to reduce the rate of urinary tract infections. Cranberries also act as a prebiotic, promoting the growth of beneficial lactobacillus bacteria (those found in yogurt) while inhibiting the growth of harmful E.coli and listeria.

I made this Cranberry Bread in Minoo’s kitchen at Caring Place. This quick bread is good for breakfast or snack with a cup of coffee or tea.

 

I like the sourness when I bite into the bits of cranberries and the bread is very moist.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup undiluted orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons butter/margarine, melted
• 1 cup raw fresh cranberries