I had friends over around the holidays and suggested making tanghulu, because I’d had the recipe bookmarked for a while. One of my friends had been seeing teens making it in the microwave and burning themselves recently, so that is possibly a thing, but we managed to make it with no injuries, and I quite enjoyed the result! You get a hard candy coating on the fruit(s) of your choice!
Ingredients:
- fruit – grapes worked well, berries would work well (they weren’t in season so I didn’t get any), mandarin segments worked but after a few days they leaked moisture that dissolved the coating, I think cut pineapple would taste very good, but you’d want to eat it the same day, before it could dissolve the sugar shell
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
To begin with, put the fruit on bbq skewers. We found that 3 grapes was a good amount of fruit – you weren’t wasting time with just one grape at a time, but it didn’t require the melted sugar mixture to be super deep for dipping later. Set aside the fruit and line baking sheets with parchment/silpats/wax paper.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over high heat, and bring to a boil.
I used a medium saucepan because I wasn’t sure if the boiling sugar mixture would boil up huge, but it really didn’t, and a smaller pan would give you a smaller area, so the mixture would start off deeper, so small pan is the way to go.
Once the sugar mixture has reached a boil, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer until it reaches 300 degrees.
The color darkens a bit, not that you see that on the fruit.
Remove from the heat, and start quickly dipping the prepared fruit into the sugar, letting the excess drip off, and then placing on the prepared pans. If the sugar starts to thicken too much, you can return it to the heat as needed. Be very careful not to let any hot sugar drip on your hands!
One batch coated two trays of fruit.
Let the tanghulu cool for a few minutes, then enjoy! I ended up sliding the leftovers off of their skewers for easier storage, and as mentioned above, the moisture from the mandarins eventually weakened the outside of those ones (after 2-3 days) but the grapes kept very well in a tupperware in the fridge, for a few days.
Tanghulu
Slightly reordered from The Big Man’s World.
- fruit – grapes, berries, mandarins, sliced kiwi, pineapple, etc
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
To begin with, put the fruit on bbq skewers. Set aside the fruit and line baking sheets with parchment/silpats/wax paper.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let the mixture simmer until it reaches 300 degrees. Remove from the heat, and start quickly dipping the prepared fruit into the sugar, letting the excess drip off, and then placing on the prepared pans. If the sugar starts to thicken too much, return it to the heat as needed.
Let the tanghulu cool for a few minutes, then enjoy! Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Ingredients:
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and olive oil until the mixture is a creamy yellow.
Whisk in the milk, zest, juice, and vanilla.
Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet, whisking the whole time, until evenly mixed.
Pour into the lined pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top springs back if gently pressed.
Place the baked cake on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, then turn out onto the rack, remove the parchment paper, and allow to cool completely.
Cook over medium heat until the berries begin to burst, stirring frequently and pressing on them, until the mixture thickens a bit, 4-5 minutes.
Place a sieve into a medium bowl and pour the orange cranberry mixture into it. Use a rubber spatula to press as much liquid from the berries through as you can.
Add the vanilla, salt, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar to the liquid, whisking until smooth, and adding up to the 1/2 cup extra if needed to thicken.
Pour over the cake and let set for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Ingredients:
Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until firm.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries begin to burst.
Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining 1/4 cup of cranberry juice, stirring if needed to make sure no dry spots remain.
Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes, until just lukewarm but not yet set, then pour about 1 1/2 cups worth into the pie shell.
The remaining gelatin mixture can be poured into a tupperware or just covered in the bowl.
Refrigerate the pie and leftover cranberry sauce for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight before serving.
Ingredients:
Place on a baking sheet, cut-sides-up, and roast 40-45 minutes, until soft.
Meanwhile, heat the other 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and break up, cooking until browned. The meatballs I used didn’t break up as much as ideal, but it wasn’t a huge issue.
Once the sausage is cooked through, season lightly with salt and pepper, then add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion has become translucent.
Add the spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted/shrunk significantly, then add the apple and Italian seasoning, cooking another 2-3 minutes until the apple has begun to soften.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cranberries and walnuts.
When the squash is done roasting, scoop the softened flesh out of the outside and stir it into the sausage mixture, then serve and enjoy.
Ingredients:
Add the eggs, zest, and vanilla and beat, again until smooth.
Gradually stir the flour mixture into the ricotta mixture, beating until just combined. I mixed in the dry goods in several additions, stirring most of the way in with a spatula and just the last bit as needed with the mixer.
Bake 15-18 minutes, until edges are lightly golden (and if necessary, keeping in mind that gluten free things don’t usually brown much, so don’t wait for that!). Cool for several minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
When the cookies are cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice and drizzle over the cookies.
Ingredients:
Add the sugar, cream, and vanilla. Beat another 2-3 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved into the cream cheese.
Spoon 1/3 of the mixture (about 1 1/4 cups) into a separate bowl and set aside. To the remaining mixture, stir in the melted chocolate, then pour into the pan.
Use a knife to swirl the peanut butter into the chocolate, then cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours. Run a knife around the inside of the pan before removing the edge, slice, and serve.
Ingredients:
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars until smooth and fluffy, 2-3 minutes on medium, then beat in the eggs, another minute. With the speed reduced to low, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, half the mashed banana, another 1/3 of the flour, the remaining banana, then the remaining flour mixture, beating until just combined.
Transfer to the prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool.
When the cake has cooled, combine all the frosting ingredients and beat on low until combined (ie until the powdered sugar is not going to explode out of your mixer), then increase to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy.
Spread on the cake. slice, and serve.
Add the cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and mix briefly until just combined, then reduce the speed to low and add in the flour, mixing again until just combined.
Stir in the apples.
When the cake has cooled, Combine the salt and butter of the frosting and beat until smooth, then add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until mixed, adding the buttermilk a tablespoon at a time with the last two cups of powdered sugar to help it incorporate. Spread on the cake, slice, and enjoy.
Ingredients:
Beat in the egg and vanilla.
On low speed, beat in the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Press the dough into the greased tart pan, pressing evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, then refrigerate for half an hour.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
Set aside to cool, and fill as desired.
sparecake 