Fancy Cranberry Sauce

Name: Fancy Cranberry Sauce
Prep time: PTM
Yield: 8 - 10 Servings
Ingredients: Nonstick vegetable oil spray; 1 tablespoon plus 1u00bd teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin; 1u00bd pounds fresh (or frozen, thawed) cranberries; 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed; 3 fresh bay leaves; Pinch of kosher salt; 1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice or water; 1u00bd cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar; 2 - 2x1u201d strips orange zest, very thinly sliced lengthwise

By Condiments, Sauce Chilling, Simmering

December 13, 2019

My daughter Zoe made this Fancy Cranberry Sauce. My father only likes the sliceable, jiggly retro canned stuff. This takes all that up a notch with deeper fruit flavor and more nuance. It’s subtly spiced with bay leaves and cardamom, then set in a gelatin mold and topped with sugary orange zest and cranberries.

Yields: 8 - 10 Servings

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin

1½ pounds fresh (or frozen, thawed) cranberries

4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

3 fresh bay leaves

Pinch of kosher salt

1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice or water

1½ cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar

2 - 2x1” strips orange zest, very thinly sliced lengthwise

Directions

1Lightly coat a 4-cup mold or Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Stir gelatin and ½ cup warm water in a small bowl and let sit 10 minutes. 

2Set 2 tablespoons cranberries aside for serving. Bring cardamom, bay leaves, salt, cranberry juice, 1½ cups sugar, and remaining cranberries to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to cook, stirring often and reducing heat as needed to avoid scorching, until cranberries burst and juices begin to look syrupy, 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from heat and pick out cardamom and bay leaves; discard. Stir in gelatin mixture (gelatin should be completely dissolved). Slowly pour cranberry mixture into mold. Chill until completely set, at least 12 hours. 

3To serve, dip mold in a bowl of warm water and hold 30 seconds. Remove and place a platter upside down over top of mold. Invert jelly onto platter. 

4Just before serving, toss orange zest, remaining 2 tablespoons cranberries, and remaining 3 Lightly coat a 4-cup mold or Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Stir gelatin and ½ cup warm water in a small bowl and let sit 10 minutes. 

5Set 2 tablespoons cranberries aside for serving. Bring cardamom, bay leaves, salt, cranberry juice, 1½ cups sugar, and remaining cranberries to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to cook, stirring often and reducing heat as needed to avoid scorching, until cranberries burst and juices begin to look syrupy, 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from heat and pick out cardamom and bay leaves; discard. Stir in gelatin mixture (gelatin should be completely dissolved). Slowly pour cranberry mixture into mold. Chill until completely set, at least 12 hours. 

6To serve, dip mold in a bowl of warm water and hold 30 seconds. Remove and place a platter upside down over top of mold. Invert jelly onto a platter. 

7Just before serving, toss orange zest, remaining 2 tablespoons cranberries, and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl to coat. Scatter over jelly. 

Do Ahead

1Jelly (without sugared cranberries and zest) can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. sugar in a small bowl to coat. Scatter over jelly. 

Do Ahead

1Jelly (without sugared cranberries and zest) can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Recipe by Andy Baraghani And Brad Leone, Bon Appétit, November 2019.

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