The Very Best Tipsy Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce is just about the simplest dish you can make for the holidays. It is a perfect side dish to take to a friends’ home, wrap up beautiful canning jars with cellophane paper and ribbon for gifts, or just have in your fridge to look at those gleaming jeweled colors.
My mother in law, Betty Jane, makes about the best cranberry sauce I’ve ever had. She uses chopped nuts and sherry for her recipe. I always ask her to bring it whenever we are having a big family holiday meal together. It is fabulous.
My version uses French Brandy, walnuts, orange or tangerine zest, fresh ginger and cinnamon sticks.
Sounds like the lyrics to an old Christmas carol-
“On Christmas morn my love brought me brandy and cinnamon. He brought me oranges and walnuts, fa la la…”
I cut the amount of sugar in half from most recipes but feel free to add more sugar. Most folks are not used to this sharper sauce, so add the sugar back in if you want sweet cranberries. Give it a little taste before canning and adjust the sweetness to your tastes.
Fa la la la…. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 unit bags of fresh cranberries washed
- 2 unit cinnamon sticks
- ½ cup water
- 1 /4 cup French Brandy or 1/4 cup apple juice
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 unit Juice from orange
- 1 TBSP orange or tangerine zest
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Place cranberries, water, juice, brandy, sugar, ginger, zest and cinnamon sticks in a shallow saucepan.
- Cook 5- 7 minutes on medium low until cranberries begin to pop. Stir gently to prevent sticking until sauce becomes thick. Test for sweetness and add more sugar if desired.
- Stir in walnuts.
- Remove cinnamon sticks. Spoon into sterilized 1 quart canning jars and refrigerate until needed. last 10-12 days days in the fridge.
