Ginger & Orange Cranberry Sauce (Inspired by Aunt Renee)
My Aunt Renee made the best whole berry cranberry sauce.
It was so good that, out of all of the things a human could and should possibly look forward to gorging themselves on at the Thanksgiving table, her cranberry sauce was definitely in my top three. Which is saying a lot, because, you know, it’s cranberry sauce.
She was a big collector of vintage dishes and her home was filled with eclectic, and sometimes eccentric, decorative pieces and kitchen things. So the cranberry sauce was usually served in some kind of really cute glass dish from the 60’s, which for some reason implanted itself in my psyche as much as the cranberry sauce itself.
A few years ago she passed and since then I’ve tried my hand at making some imitations of it. I think I actually at one point had the exact recipe, but given that I’m an idiot, it’s been lost.
Which is fine, because attempting to recreate her cranberry sauce from memory forces me to think hard about what made it special, and what I need to include in mine for it to be similar. I think it was a combination of an acidic punch to balance out the sugar, along with a kick of ginger, all mellowed out by baking spices, that made it so good.
It was kind of heavy, too. Like, thick and able to hold its shape. I of course loved smearing it on turkey, but then you also get to enjoy it in that weirdly personal goulash that forms on a properly stuffed Thanksgiving plate—where there are some bites that kind of contain a little bit of everything, as the cornbread stuffing has commingled with the gravy and the turkey slips into it alongside a bite of mac n’ cheese. And then, of course, the cranberry sauce. Scarlett and unmistakeable, perfect as part of the goulash, or as a palate cleanser.
I’ve got the recipe I came up with this year for you below. I like to make it a few days in advance because it really is the most amazing after it’s had a chance to sit in the fridge for a bit, but it’s still perfectly delicious when made on Thanksgiving day.
To be honest I’m not sure Aunt Renee, like, really cared about cranberry sauce or if it was just something she always made, but my memory of it is a little thing I get to cherish, and it’s a fun reminder that even the little things in your life can effect people around you most—like your nephew who will go on to write far too many words about a condiment in your name.
Let me know if you give the recipe below a try. I’d love to hear what you think!
An Attempt at Aunt Renee’s Ginger & Orange Cranberry Sauce
takes 30 minutes || makes 1 quart (about enough for a 12-15 person gathering)
24 ounces fresh whole cranberries
2 cups cane sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of two oranges
5 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
2” nub of ginger, sliced
Hefty pinch of salt
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer on medium high heat for twenty minutes, stirring often, until berries have begun to burst and lost their shape. Let cool before serving or storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
