Cranberry Syllabub

My friend, Brandon, is a connoisseur of sorts — I think he’s got eclectic and refined tastes, especially when it comes to music, pop culture, comedians, and obscure desserts!

He’s the one who turned me on to syllabub: a ye’ old British desert made of chilled fruit juice, wine, and heavy cream.

This dessert could seriously not be simpler, and yet it’s rich, luscious texture and complex flavour will impress the people you serve it to.

I made this for an after-dinner treat on a cold, winter evening, and it went great with tea and cookies.

You could always use other tart, unsweetened juices instead of cranberry, such as lemon, grapefruit, or raspberry.

Cranberry Syllabub

*original recipe by Christine

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream (aka: whipping cream)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
• 1/4 cup late-harvest wine
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• zest from half a lemon
• nutmeg, cinnamon, and cranberries, to garnish

Directions

Make sure all your ingredients are chilled before preparing this dessert. Don’t bother warming anything to room temperature.

Place all your ingredients in a bowl under a stand-mixer. Beat over medium-high speed until soft peaks form.

Spoon the syllabub into individual serving glasses and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Serve straight from the fridge, after sprinkling with warm spices, like nutmeg and cinnamon, and garnishing with a cranberry.

Makes 8 servings! Yum!

So, for those of you who want a little bit of political reading with your sweets, hop on over to Brandon’s new blog. He’s got tons of intelligent, insightful observations on gender politics, queer theory, and music (and they’re more related than you’d think)!