The seventh day of Christmas – Christmas cranberries
Christmas cranberries: a festive favourite with a rich past
Bright, tart, and bursting with flavour, cranberries have become a beloved staple of the Christmas season. From glistening sauces to spiced muffins, they add colour and taste to savoury and sweet dishes.
Native to North America, the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) was used in cuisine long before the first European settlers arrived. While it may be myth rather than fact that cranberries featured in the original Thanksgiving dinner, they are now firmly associated with Christmas celebrations in the UK.
The fruit’s name is believed to have been coined by early German settlers in America, who referred to it as kranbeere – either due to the crane-like shape of the flower or the way it bends like a crane when in bloom.
Your Christmas cranberries are harvested in the autumn, from September through December. Although many associate them with water thanks to the iconic images of bog harvests, cranberries don’t grow in water. The bushes are rooted in soil, and the bogs are simply flooded to make harvesting easier. The berries float and are collected using large mechanical ‘eggbeaters’ – a process that also helps separate the best quality berries.
Are cranberries sustainable?
Cranberries are a long-lived perennial vine, which through unique horticulture practices can produce berries for decades. Sustainability is an inherent part of cranberry farming and regenerative agriculture has been practiced for generations in North America, where cranberries are indigenous. The berry grows best in boggy, water-soaked soil that can’t be used for many other crops. And every one acre of cranberry bog requires 5.5 acres of wild marsh needed around it – a built-in wetlands preservation strategy.
In 2020, Ocean Spray, an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry farmers in the United States, Canada and Chile, took advantage of the crop’s natural sustainability to become the first major food manufacturer in the United States to have its entire crop be verified 100% sustainable.
However, according to a 2009 Global Climate Change Impact in the U.S. Report, large portions of Northeast America are likely to become unsuitable for growing cranberries if higher emissions of heat-trapping gases ensue. Cranberries, which require a timespan during the winter when the ambient temperature falls below 45 °F for normal blossoming, are particularly susceptible to a warming planet.
Cranberry farmers are rising to the challenge and embracing new technology to optimise irrigation, manage pest outbreaks and breed more climate-resistant varieties.
Choosing Christmas cranberries from cooperatives like Ocean Spray supports sustainable farming methods. Look for the ‘100% sustainably grown’ label when buying.
What are the health benefits of cranberries?
Cranberry juice is probably best known for helping to manage urinary tract infections. Cranberries contain pro anthocyanidin compounds, that have natural antibacterial benefits and may help prevent escherichia coli from attaching to the surface of the bladder and urinary tract, causing an infection.
There are many studies supporting cranberry juice as a means to help prevent UTI and its reoccurrence, but it appears to be less effective once the infection has taken hold. Some studies also suggest it may not work for everyone. If you choose to drink cranberry juice for its potential UTI benefits, opt for an unsweetened 100% juice.
Your Christmas cranberries contain carotenoids, including beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A for healthy skin, eyes and a strong immune system. They also provide lycopene, which may help protect the skin from sun damage.
What can you make with leftover cranberry sauce?
Cranberry sauce muffins
These fluffy muffins are a perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce and are great for festive breakfasts or snacks…
Serves 12
Ingredients:
- 250g plain flour
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 200ml plain yoghurt (or buttermilk)
- 80ml vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g leftover cranberry sauce
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Line a 12 hole muffin tray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, combine the egg, yoghurt, oil, and vanilla.
- Stir wet ingredients into the dry mix until just combined.
- Gently fold in the cranberry sauce – don’t overmix.
- Spoon batter into cases and bake for 20–25 minutes, until golden and springy.
For more festive inspiration, keep an eye out for the rest of our 12 Days of Christmas blogs arriving throughout December – a dive into every ingredient’s history, sustainability and nutrition, along with a delicious recipe …
Christmas bakes – stirring up tradition
01 December – smoked salmon
02 December – turkey
03 December – Brussels sprouts
04 December – parsnips
08 December – red cabbage
09 December – chestnuts
10 December – cranberries
11 December – dates
15 December – walnuts
16 December – clementines
17 December – cloves
18 December – cinnamon