This might get me in trouble, but I could do without the turkey on Thanksgiving.
It’s not that I don’t like turkey, quite the opposite actually. But it takes up valuable space on my Thanksgiving plate that can be used for something better. Like apple & sage gluten-free stuffing. Or my mom’s famous white jello (she won’t give me the recipe for that one no matter how many times I ask). Or mashed potatoes. Or cranberry sauce.
Oh sweet cranberries.
Not cranberry chutney. Not cranberry relish. Those are too tart. Sophisticated even. What I want on my plate is cranberry sauce. The one that reminds me of my childhood and cranberries out of a can that you could slice.
A dish that balances sweet and tart. A dish with texture that isn’t crunchy. Something that reminds me of all the Thanksgivings growing up, but doesn’t contain any additives or high-fructose something or other. Cranberries with seasonal spices to perk them up and just enough sugar to temper their tart bite.
Let’s jelly these babies
Gelatin gives the sauce shape and structure, whole cranberries give it texture and some spices and apple cider bring back those childhood memories.
- 680 grams (1 ½ pounds/ 2 12-ounce bags) fresh cranberries
- 450 grams (2 1/4 cups) sugar
- 3/4 cup apple cider
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 ½ tsp (1 packet) gelatin powder
- ½ tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- In a small pot add cranberries, sugar, cider vinegar, cardamom, cinnamon and salt.
- Over medium heat, cook it until cranberries have burst and mix is fully combined, about 10
- minutes. Remove from heat.
- While the cooked cranberries cool, sprinkle the gelatin over the apple cider in a small bowl and let sit for 5 minutes.
- When the 5 minutes is up, add the cider mixture to the cranberries and stir well.
- Pour into an 8×8 dish (I used a clear pyrex) and let sit in the fridge for at least 5 hours before serving.
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