I’ve done this with canned cranberries too. It’s actually more of a crisp than a cobbler. Cobblers have a dough thingie on top – crisps are quicker, and I like the crunch when the topping is stirred up with the filling.
My grandma used to make a great, simple one:
2 oranges
2 large apples
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
Her recipe said to chop the fruits together in a food chopper…whatever that is. I use a food processor, but you have to be careful not to over-chop, or it will get too liquidy. You want the fruit to be in little bits, not turned into pulp.
Also, when it says to chop the fruit, it means the whole fruit…just toss the whole thing right in there, peel and all.
When the fruits are chopped to the right consistency, stir in the sugar, let stand for a bit, and serve! It sounds weird, but it’s really really good.
Made one today and the family loved it.
250g of fresh cranberries,
Juice of 4 small satsumas.
4 tablespoons of unrefined caster sugar.
Good dash of irish whisky.
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger.
100ml water.
Put all the ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil. It’s done when all the cranberries have burst and the sugar/water mixture turns a nice red colour.
We had duck and this was the perfect accompanyment as it was astringent enough to cut through the richness of the duck.
For a sweeter sauce simply add more sugar. We like it quite sharp and find shop bought cranberry sauce to be too sweet.
My friend makes the best cranberry sauce. I don’t know the exact recipe, but I think it’s just your basic cranberry/orange sauce with a healthy dose of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum.
1 bag of cranberries
1 cup of orange marmalade
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
Bake the cranberries till they’re soft, then add the marmalade and sugar. Stir in the walnuts after it has cooled. You can serve it chilled or warmed up in the microwave.
It’s very easy, and very tasty.
My favorite: Ginger Cranberry Sauce
1 bag cranberries
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup orange juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp (or however much) fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp dried ground ginger (for extra kick)
Bring all to boil and cook 10 minutes. Chill and serve.
I haven’t tried this, but it sounds good:
1 bag cranberries
1 cup Port
1 piece Star Anise
1/2 cup sugar
Simmer port, sugar, and star anise for 20 minutes, then remove star anise and add cranberries. Bring to boil and cook 10 minutes.
I make a spicy cranberry-orange relish, which combines really nicely with the turkey. And, yes, people eat it. I stole it from Martha.
It combines the sour/sweet/spicy flavors very nicely.
The Ms. makes it somewhat differently every year, but it’s always good. I believe it has orange rind, maybe some pear, sugar, pecans, a blast of either cognac or orange liqueur, cinnamon. It’s all good.
I make a different one every year and everybody loves it but me. I can’t stand the stuff. Too jelly-ish. I’ve made it with oranges, with apples, with hazlenuts… all kinda stuff.
Similar to Unauthorized Cinnamon’s entry, I was given a recipe a few years ago for a Cranberry Jezebel Sauce. Granted, the first time I heard of it, I wasn’t all so sure about it. Then, for the heck of it about 3 years ago, I made it, and instantly fell in love. Ok, fine, I love cranberries, period, but this sauce is AWESOME. Especially the next day on turkey sandwiches.
Cranberry Jezebel Sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 (12 oz) bag fresh or frozen cranberries
3 tblsps prepared horseradish
1 tblsp Dijon mustard
Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Add cranberries, and return to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool to room temp. Stir in horseradish and mustard; cover and chill.
I don’y remember the exact recipr, but I think it involved cranberry jello, real cranberries, citrus, lots of sugar, and NUTZ.
Nutz really add desire to Cran Gel.
Our recipe just used cranberries, apples, brown sugar, and spices – no orange juice. peel, or zest. Disney did put in raisins and, I think, onion, but we took those out.
Here’s the word on low-sugar relish from my mother: “It’s 1-1-1. Coarsely chop one orange with rind. Peel and chop one apple. Dump in one bag of rinsed cranberries. Heat in some water until it’s the texture and consistency you like, stirring occasionally. You may add water. Sweeten with Splenda or sugar to taste, or don’t weeten and let people sweeten it at the table.”
I made this one that I found online somewhere this year. It’s interesting. I’m not a huge fan of it, (I’m more of a cranberry relish guy) but my wife loves it.
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups cranberries
1 tablespoon ginger (grated)
2 cups Pinot Noir
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 pinch of Chinese five-spice powder
Directions:
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the cranberries and ginger and stir until the cranberries begin to burst, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the wine and sugar and boil for 15 minutes to reduce.
- Stir in the crystallized ginger, curry powder and Chinese five spice powder.
Refrigerate overnight.
Yep. My favorite is just cranberries, sugar, and a little water. I don’t want orange, apple, cinnamon, or anything else in my cranberry sauce. Well, I’ll deal with freshly grated ginger. But, for me, the whole point is sweet-and-sour, with a definite bias towards the sour.
This pretty much nails my basic approach (and the picture looks spot-on to how I like my cranberry sauce). Plus the link also contains another link to a cranberry relish recipe.
I’ve been making variations on the same cranberry sauce for about 20 years. This year’s version:
1 12-oz bag cranberries
1/2 apple, chopped (I used a Honeycrisp apple that was getting a bit wrinkly)
1 clementine, cut into wedges (unpeeled) and seeded
1/4 lemon (also unpeeled) and seeded
1/2 cup dried Zante currants
1/4 c white wine (maybe less, I didn’t measure)
1/4 teaspoon Penzey’s Baking Spice (or a combination of cinnamon, cloves and other spices you like)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Chop clementine and 1/4 lemon finely in a food processer (I have a chopper attachment on my immersion blender that is perfect for this)
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil for a few minutes (I’m pretty sure it was less than 10) until the berries start to burst. It came out much less jelled than usual, more like a compote, which I prefer. I think it’s because I didn’t get distracted and let it overcook. My friends who came to dinner each had two helpings and took some with leftovers, so I’m pretty sure they liked it. 
Put me down for a “Me Too”
I have always enjoyed the simplicity of whole cranberry sauce. Sugar, water, cranberries - boil, simmer, cool, enjoy. Finished off ours in a couple of days. Think I’ll do some more real soon.
I enjoy experimenting with everybody’s own little cranberry sauce recipe. It’s really very nice, just make sure you also have a can of cranberry sauce (no fruit, just jelly) on a plate in the shape of a the can it slid out of with a knife for slicing. I will be very disappointed if you don’t.
12 oz. bag of cranberries
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Combine the above in an oiled 9x13 glass dish; cover top with foil and bake in 350 F oven about one hour or until a thick syrup has formed. The foil is needed because it will spatter otherwise.
Add 1/4 cup of bourbon.
I made this for Thanksgiving and people went crazy for it, including some who never had tried anything but that vile canned stuff, and my previouslty cranberry-despising husband.
Annie’s Cranberry Sauce
Serves 8-12
Ingredients:
12 oz fresh cranberries
¾ cup orange juice
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
- Rinse cranberries in colander and sort to find and remove any stems. Drain well.
- In a large saucepan, dissolve brown sugar and white sugar in orange juice over medium heat.
- Stir cranberries into orange juice mixture in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until cranberries begin to pop (about 10 minutes). Keeping a lid or splatter screen over the top of the saucepan when not stirring is a good idea, as exploding cranberries are hot and sticky. Be careful not to let the mixture boil over.
- When the cranberries have begun to pop, turn off the heat and stir well. More cranberries will pop during this process, and the sauce still may be relatively thin.
- Stir in orange zest and cinnamon, mix well.
- Transfer cranberry sauce to serving dish. The sauce will thicken and gel as it cools. You may garnish the top with additional orange zest if desired. Serve at preferred temperature. It’s good warm, room temp, or cold on leftover turkey sandwiches.