[1] Use frosted grapes to garnish (photo All Recipes).

[2] Even one grape does the trick. Photo of vanilla bean cupcake with a center of champagne whipped cream, frosted with champagne butter cream and garnished with a half a sugared grape, courtesy Yummy Cupcakes.

As the days grow cold, berries can be scarce—or costly.

Substitute a sugared grape. It’s even more festive than a berry, and is easy to make (recipe below).

Sugared grapes can top any frosting or pudding, sorbet, ice cream or fruit salad. Or use them as a plate garnish with fish and poultry.

You can frost entire clusters of grapes and use them to garnish holiday platters and cheese plates.
HOW TO MAKE FROSTED SUGARED GRAPES

This easy recipe is adapted from Gale Gand’s Just A Bite, by Gale Gand and Julia Moskin.

You can use a half or whole grape for garnish.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. FREEZE the grapes. At least 3 hours and up to 7 days before serving, remove the grapes from their stems and place them in the freezer. To frost an entire cluster, leave the grapes intact on the stems. When ready to serve…

2. WHISK the egg whites with the lemon juice in a large bowl until frothy. Put the sugar in another bowl.

3. DROP the grapes into the bowl of egg whites, then pour the contents of the bowl through a strainer to drain the liquid. Place the grapes on a paper towel and roll them around until most of the excess egg white has been absorbed. Then, working in batches…

4. ADD the grapes to the sugar and shake them around to coat. Shake off any excess. Use as garnish and serve.

Raw eggs carry a slight risk of food-borne illness, including Salmonella. To reduce the risk, use only fresh, grade A or AA eggs. The eggs should be clean and properly refrigerated. Discard any eggs with cracked shells.

As an alternative, use pasteurized eggs, like the Davidson’s Safe Eggs brand.