Decadent Brandy Maple Cranberry Sauce Holiday Recipes

BRANDIED CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Rinse the cranberries before use. Sort cranberries and discard anything that looks odd.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cranberries, water, orange zest, orange juice, both sugars, and cinnamon sticks.
• Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. Be careful! Watch the cranberries closely. They can bubble up and could possibly boil over if you are not watching them.
• Simmer the cranberry mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the brandy and continue to simmer until cranberries begin to burst and the sauce reduces slightly; about 5 more minutes.
• Turn off the heat. Remove the cinnamon sticks from the cranberry sauce.
• Stir in the vanilla extract and pour the sauce into a serving dish or storage container. Allow the sauce to cool and thicken up; 30 minutes.

PERFECT CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and cool to room temperature before serving.

MAPLE SYRUP CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine water and maple syrup in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Add cranberries to syrup mixture and cook at a boil until berries pop, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir brown sugar and lemon juice into cranberries until brown sugar is completely dissolved. Mix in brandy.

CLASSIC CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, orange zest and juice, cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst and mixture thickens slightly, 12 to 15 minutes. (Sauce will thicken more as it cools.) Remove from heat; let cool completely. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.