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Homemade Cranberry Sauce

cranberry-sauce

What would the holiday season be without cranberry sauce? With my recipe you can make it from scratch in the time it would take you to get the jelly stuff out of the can.

Here in the States, canned cranberry sauce is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Thanksgiving meal. There’s only one problem with that in my estimation – canned cranberry sauce tastes like hyper-sweet cranberry JELL-O, lacking anything that remotely resembles the tart, mouth-awakening flavor of fresh cranberries. With this recipe, you will rediscover the freshness and flavor of the cranberry, tempered with fresh orange juice and maple syrup.

yields 3 cups

INGREDIENTS
  • 16 ounces fresh cranberries
  • 1/8 cup sugar
  • 1/8 cup maple syrup or honey
  • 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest
  • 1/4 cup cranberry juice (cocktail will work, 100% juice is best)
PREP INSTRUCTIONS
  • Squeeze orange juice and zest. If your orange is a bit hard, you can microwave it for a few seconds (about 15) to get more juice.
  • Rinse cranberries and discard stems or shriveled berries.
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large saucepan, add sugar, maple syrup, orange juice and cranberry juice. Stir and bring to the boil.

2. Reduce heat immediately to medium and add cranberries and orange zest. Stir and cover, allowing to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Uncover and coarsely mash the cranberries with a potato masher or wooden spoon. Don’t worry about making the mixture smooth, you want some texture in the finished cranberry sauce.

4. Spoon the mixture into individual, round 1/2 cup containers, or to make it fun, spoon into a clean, empty can.

cranberry-sauce-4

Refrigerate overnight (or for up to 3 days) to allow the cranberry sauce to set fully. Before serving, invert your container(s) of choice and remove cranberry sauce to a serving platter.

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