Three small additions take your homemade cranberry from good to great.
So everybody knows you don’t buy cranberry sauce. It’s the very easiest thing to make ever.
You buy a package of cranberries, and as per instructions on the back, you boil them with sugar, water and the zest of an orange. Fait accompli.
That does very nicely. But these three small tweaks take your cranberry sauce from good to great in short order.
You replace the water and brown sugar with maple syrup. Add a strong pinch of salt. Add a tiny pinch of cloves. It’s perfect.
The maple syrup adds complexity. The salt adds depth. The musty, heavy flavour of cloves battles the tart tinniness of the cranberries. The ultimate Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. For a Christmas turkey, add an extra pinch of cloves. Tastes like Christmas in a jar.
This is not only a great sauce, it’s a great gift. My family prefers gravy, so I end up putting the cranberry sauce in plain yoghurt for a week. This is a happy occurrence. But I make it for company, and they always describe it in superlative terms.
Ingredients
- 1 package fresh cranberries (8 oz, 227 g)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅙ tsp kosher or sea salt
- zest and juice of one orange
- 1 pinch cloves
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a pot, and bring to boil over high heat. Put a lid on and cook over medium heat. When you no longer hear the cranberries popping, about 5 minutes, turn off the heat.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.