Making your own cranberry sauce is simple and delicious.
And it’s a great winter immune system booster.
Getting hold of the cranberries, on the other hand, can be more of a challenge!
If you can’t find fresh cranberries, dried will work fine – just reduce the sugar a bit, as they’re usually already sweetened. We’ve included recipes here for both options.
Just bear in mind that dried cranberries are often already sweetened, so be cautious about how much extra sugar you add, or it could be overly sweet.
The point of this sauce is that it’s sweet enough to eat, whilst still being tart.
Ingredients Serves 6
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
5 tablespoons port (optional) – substitute more orange, if not using port
350g fresh / frozen / dried cranberries
150g – 200g caster sugar (to taste)
½ teaspoon grated cinnamon
1 apple, peeled and grated
Fresh / Frozen Cranberries
1. Put all the ingredients in a pan – only use 2/3 of the sugar at this stage.
2. Heat gently until the sugar has melted. Cover and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, until the cranberries have released their juices and the sauce has started to thicken.
Note: the cranberries will probably split. This is ok.
3. Check for sweetness and add more sugar if you need to. Only cook for long enough to dissolve the sugar and thicken the sauce.
Dried Cranberries
1. Wash the cranberries in a bowl of hot water, to remove any oil coating. Drain.
2. Put the cranberries and orange juice with 100ml water in a pan. Cover and simmer very gently for 10 minutes, until the cranberries are starting to plump up.
3. Leave, covered, for an hour. This allows the cranberries to rehydrate.
4. Then add the ¼ of the sugar, cinnamon, port and apple and simmer for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
5. Check for sweetness and add more sugar, if necessary.
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