• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Instagram
  • Amazon
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

fuel that adventure

  • Home
  • The Food
    • All Manner of Sweet Things
      • Cake
      • Chocolate
      • Cookies
      • Ice Cream
      • Squares
      • Everything Else
    • Veggie
      • Salad
      • Vegetarian
      • Vegan
    • Carbohydrates
      • Bread
      • Pasta
      • Potato
      • Gluten Free
      • Rice
      • Pastry
    • Soup
    • Hoof & Feather
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Lamb
      • Pork
    • Fin & Shell
    • Breakfast
  • The Adventures
    • Shetland
      • Hike Shetland
    • Belgium
    • England
    • France
    • Italy
    • Latvia
    • Norway
    • Scotland
    • Spain
    • The Caribbean
    • USA
  • About Me
  • As Seen
  • PR & Disclosure
  • Contact Me

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

Published on October 15, 2013 β€’ Last updated July 22, 2017 by Elizabeth Atia
cranberry sauce 1

I love cranberry sauce. A Thanksgiving or Christmas meal isn’t complete without it, in my opinion. Cranberry sauce is the accompaniment which turns the humble turkey (and subsequent leftovers) into something you want to have seconds and thirds of. I can quite easily scoff a silly amount of roast turkey, cold, with lashings of this cranberry sauce.

I don’t particularly care for shop bought cranberry sauce. It’s far too sweet and there are not enough cranberries in it. I like my cranberry sauce to retain t

Fortunately, homemade cranberry sauce is a dawdle to whip up and it can be made weeks in advance, well before any Christmas/Thanksgiving preparation starts in full swing. It only takes a few minutes to pop everything in the pan, stir every now and again for ten minutes or so, bottle and away you go! Easy peasy!

Cranberries grew wild where I grew up in the Canadian Maritimes. I remember once, as a child, one of the elderly neighbours in the village recruiting us young children to help him harvest them from their secret location in a sandy peat bog in the forest.

He wore great big waders and we went into the water either barefoot or in wellies and we picked the little red cranberries floating on the surface of the water. It was a magical experience which has stuck with me over the years.

Cranberries don’t grow wild here in Shetland, so I have to make due with the imported ones in the supermarket. I buy them fresh and pop them in the freezer for use when I need them. You can often buy them on sale after Christmas. Cranberries keep for ages in the freezer. Sources say 9-12 months but I know I’ve kept mine lurking in the bottom of the freezer for a lot longer than this without any deterioration in flavour.

I made this cranberry sauce for our Canadian Thanksgiving meal using cranberries and white wine which had both been in the freezer for quite some time. I often use white wine in cooking and any leftovers which aren’t consumed with the meal usually get frozen into 50 ml quantities for use in later recipes. I think this saves a bit of money since I don’t have to buy a whole bottle of wine each time I need just a splash for cooking.

As such, I am sharing this recipe with Credit Crunch Munch, a food blogging challenge by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All with an aim of getting food bloggers to share their frugal recipes. This month the challenge is hosted by Michelle over at Utterly Scrummy Food for Families.

I’m also sharing this recipe with the fabulous Mark over Javelin Warrior and his Made with Love Mondays challenge, where bloggers can share their from-scratch recipes, and with Jen from Blue Kitchen Bakes and her fresh cranberry recipe link up!

Spiced Cranberry Sauce
by Elizabeth
A delicately spiced cranberry sauce with the perfect ratio of tart to sweetness. Perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners.
Ingredients
  • 175 grams whole cranberries, fresh or frozen
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • 50 ml white wine
  • 1 large orange, juice and zest
  • 1 whole cinnamon stick
  • 2 whole star anise
  • 3 whole cloves, ground in a mortar and pestle
Instructions
1. Place all ingredients in a medium sized saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes or so until the cranberries have popped and the sauce is thickened.
3. Spoon into a sterilized glass jar (wash with hot soapy water and fill with boiling water until needed) and store in the fridge until needed.
Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 15 mins Yield: Serves 6-8

Made with Love Mondays, hosted by Javelin Warrior
Category: Recipe

About Elizabeth Atia

Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home.

Previous Post: « Spaghetti alla Puttanesca & Proware Tri-ply Copper Cookware Review
Next Post: A Canadian Thanksgiving with Martin Miller’s Gin »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Paul Wilson

    March 27, 2015 at 1:15 am

    Nice one. Homemade cranberry sauce is sooo much nicer.

    Reply
  2. rebecca nisbet

    August 26, 2014 at 9:44 am

    love cranberry sauce, sounds even nicer with a bit of spice in.

    Reply
  3. Alida

    October 17, 2013 at 5:00 am

    I learned about cranberry sauce in the UK and I fell in love with it straight away. Your version here is beautiful. I really love the addition of spices. Very inventing Elizabeth!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      October 21, 2013 at 4:49 pm

      Thank you Alida! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  4. Javelin Warrior

    October 15, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    I’m such a fan of cranberry sauce, especially at holidays. I’ve never added wine to mine before (or any of the spices) but now I’m really intrigued! This sounds delicious…

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      October 16, 2013 at 2:58 pm

      You won’t be disappointed if you try it πŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. Stuart Vettese

    October 15, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    This sounds so much better than the pre-bought jarred stuff. Can you send some down please – lol!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      October 16, 2013 at 2:57 pm

      He he, sure thing!

      Reply
  6. Angela Darroch

    October 15, 2013 at 1:03 pm

    Nothing nicer than a turkey sandwich with lashings of cranberry sauce. Added to my list of things to make for Christmas.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      October 16, 2013 at 2:56 pm

      I whole-heartedly agree! My grandmother used to make a wonderful turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich for my packed school lunch. I loved it! Oh I could go one right now….

      Reply
  7. belleau kitchen

    October 15, 2013 at 11:44 am

    nice basic sauce here, and believe it or not I don’t think i’ve ever made a cranberry sauce so I must give this a go for the Christmas turkey x

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      October 16, 2013 at 2:55 pm

      Oh you must try it! It’s so worth the effort πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. Jen @ Blue Kitchen Bakes

    October 15, 2013 at 10:19 am

    I absolutely love homemade cranberry sauce made with spices and can’t wait until cranberries are back in the shops so I can fill my freezer with them. I think I bought around 1.1 kg of them last year and they all went ages ago, must buy more this year!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      October 16, 2013 at 2:55 pm

      The spices improve the flavour a lot, I think. I love Christmas spice πŸ™‚

      Reply
  9. Julian Onions

    October 15, 2013 at 10:15 am

    When you say serves 6-8 – is that 6-8 jars or people?

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      October 16, 2013 at 2:53 pm

      Haha! 6-8 people πŸ˜›

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. A Canadian Thanksgiving with Martin Miller’s Gin says:
    July 18, 2014 at 6:47 pm

    […] Cream Braised Red Cabbage with Port and Pear Corn on the Cob Buttery Shetland Carrots & Turnip Spiced Cranberry Sauce Turkey Gravy made with Giblet Stock Fougasse ** Blueberry Pie Pumpkin Pie with a Nut Crust and […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sidebar

About Elizabeth

Adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Loves bikes. Calls Shetland home. Read More…

Inspiration

“Every day is another chance to get stronger, to eat better, to live healthier, and to be the best version of you.”

Recent Posts

Image of a stainless steel camping bowl filled with chorizo chowder. There are a few slices of toasted focaccia on the side with gorgeous black grill lines.
Image of The Face of Neeans with its very steep cliffs.

Copyright © 2011–2022 Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary Ltd · Privacy Policy · All Rights Reserved · Website by Callia Web

Company Number: SC643807 · Registered Business Address: 42 Carden Place, Aberdeen, AB10 1UP