Yes, I love ocean spray too. In fact, I have always preferred it and have even been known to buy a few extra cans to open when the company leaves. I don’t think any of us can explain it. Who would have ever thought that any food with ridges on it would be appealing? We just like it, right? Our parents served it to us and it became a tradition and comfortable.
Small problem. There is so much corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup jammed into one can now that I can’t even stand it anymore. Last year, I attempted a homemade version that I put in a can to pop out like our favorite. It tasted pretty close, but didn’t “jell” the way I would have liked.
Enter: 2011 version which definitely has that “jell”.
These berries capture the holiday spirit all by themselves.
Combine cranberries, sugar, and 3 c. water until the berries start popping. Usually this takes about 20 minutes, but it totally depends on your pan and its heat conduction. After the majority of them are popped, you can strain it in a sieve. I’m not cool yet and don’t own a $100 dollar sieve, but I just strain mine once through a colander and then again through my small sieve. It works. I do hope to join the sieve club soon, though, because it will save me some serious time. You just need to strain it until you have 3 cups of liquid. You might need to use a spatula to move the cranberries back and forth to get them to pass through. While it is straining, combine the 3 Tbsp. water with the gelatin and let it sit for a few minutes. After that, return the liquid to the pan and add the gelatin/water combo. Simmer until the gelatin is dissolved and remove from the heat. Immediately, pour the cranberry sauce into the mold. In my case it was a BPA-free can. That way you don’t have to worry about a weird chemical transfer after all that work. Yes, many cans are actually labeled BPA-free so you should have no problem finding one.
Here they are, ready to throw into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours but at least a day is best.
Can O’ Cranberry Sauce
(adapted from Epicurious)
4 bags (12 oz.) cranberries
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 c. water
3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin + 3 Tbsp. water
If you dare…
Yes, I really did that. What can I say, I love Legos and I love my boys.
You could put this in any mold you want. If I was Martha, I would put it in a cute little turkey mold, but I’m not.
So, I made Lego cranberry sauce.
…
Note: If you wanted to can this, you would just process it for 5 minutes. After you sterilize the jars, add the liquid to the sterilized jars at the same point you put them in the can.
love the legos!! Might have to give this a try
Love this. My father-in-law is stubborn as ever and at holidays when I make my yummy sauce I always have to have an ocean spray can for him….. but mwahahaha I can serve him this and he won’t even know!
Let me know how it works out :)
how much water do you mix with the gelatin before adding it to the cranberry mixture?
Good catch! The geletin is merely being “revived” so it only needs about 3 Tablespoons to be good to go ;) Thanks for pointing out that error, Elizabeth ;)
I can’t wait to try this. Hugs!
Im confused. In the ingredients list it says 3 c water 3 envelopes gelatin. Your directions say 3 tbsp water. What is actually used to make 1 can. And i assume cook the sugar aith the cranberries right? Thanks. Cant wait to yry fooling my family
Thanks for catching that! I updated the recipe ;) Can’t believe nobody caught that when I wrote this several years ago ;)
Cranberry sauce is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving! Using different molds is a great idea to change it up!
This turned out awesome and was so much better than the canned version. Thanks so much for sharing.
I’m so happy to hear that! I’m letting my daughter make it on her own this year.:)