Recipes with Helen Austin |
Once again, we're heading into the holiday home stretch. Christmas is almost here.
Your family probably has a favorite cranberry sauce recipe, but if you want to try something a little different, how
about these Frosty Cranberry Tiptops? The recipe is from a cookbook published in 1971 by the Jackson,
Mississippi, Symphony League. A good friend sent it to me when I was "exiled" for a year in Denver and, boy, was it
welcome.
Invited to a Thanksgiving potluck, I was asked to bring cranberries. I tried this recipe and it was a big hit. I don't
remember how I transported the frozen salad without it melting; probably it was cold enough in Denver in November
for that not to be a problem.
The recipe could possibly be made in a large mold, but the individual servings make a really attractive
presentation. Also, I'm guessing the kids or grandkids would enjoy helping in the kitchen by peeling the muffin
papers off the "tiptops."
Your family probably has a favorite cranberry sauce recipe, but if you want to try something a little different, how
about these Frosty Cranberry Tiptops? The recipe is from a cookbook published in 1971 by the Jackson,
Mississippi, Symphony League. A good friend sent it to me when I was "exiled" for a year in Denver and, boy, was it
welcome.
Invited to a Thanksgiving potluck, I was asked to bring cranberries. I tried this recipe and it was a big hit. I don't
remember how I transported the frozen salad without it melting; probably it was cold enough in Denver in November
for that not to be a problem.
The recipe could possibly be made in a large mold, but the individual servings make a really attractive
presentation. Also, I'm guessing the kids or grandkids would enjoy helping in the kitchen by peeling the muffin
papers off the "tiptops."
FROSTY CRANBERRY TIPTOPS
1 one-pound can jellied cranberry sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Paper muffin cups
1 cup whipping cream (1 8-ounce container)
3 ounces cream cheese (or reduced-fat Neufchatel-style cream cheese), softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
Curly lettuce leaves
Crush cranberry sauce with a spoon and stir in lemon juice. Blend until smooth and
spread over bottoms of paper muffin cups. (You might want to double them.)
Whip cream and fold into softened cream cheese. Combine mayonnaise, confectioners
sugar and chopped nuts. Stir carefully into cream cheese mixture. Spoon over
cranberry mixture in muffin cups. Place on a baking sheet and freeze until firm. When
frozen, you may place in zippered freezer bags.
Just before serving, invert each cranberry tiptop over a lettuce leaf and peel away
paper muffin cups. It doesn't matter if they soften a little, but don't put them on a plate
with hot food until you're about to put the plates on the table. Makes about 6-8.
1 one-pound can jellied cranberry sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Paper muffin cups
1 cup whipping cream (1 8-ounce container)
3 ounces cream cheese (or reduced-fat Neufchatel-style cream cheese), softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
Curly lettuce leaves
Crush cranberry sauce with a spoon and stir in lemon juice. Blend until smooth and
spread over bottoms of paper muffin cups. (You might want to double them.)
Whip cream and fold into softened cream cheese. Combine mayonnaise, confectioners
sugar and chopped nuts. Stir carefully into cream cheese mixture. Spoon over
cranberry mixture in muffin cups. Place on a baking sheet and freeze until firm. When
frozen, you may place in zippered freezer bags.
Just before serving, invert each cranberry tiptop over a lettuce leaf and peel away
paper muffin cups. It doesn't matter if they soften a little, but don't put them on a plate
with hot food until you're about to put the plates on the table. Makes about 6-8.
Helen Austin was food editor at the Arkansas Democrat for six years and has since been a
contributor to Active Years and the Arkansas Times. Having no formal education in either
journalism or home economics, she credits any expertise in these fields to a lifelong interest in
food and writing.
Helen's food philosophy consists of getting the best, freshest ingredients available, then cooking
them in the simplest manner possible. She and her husband, Jerry, prepare most of their meals at
home.
contributor to Active Years and the Arkansas Times. Having no formal education in either
journalism or home economics, she credits any expertise in these fields to a lifelong interest in
food and writing.
Helen's food philosophy consists of getting the best, freshest ingredients available, then cooking
them in the simplest manner possible. She and her husband, Jerry, prepare most of their meals at
home.
© 2009 Helen Austin. All rights reserved.
