Homemade Cranberry Jelly

Jellied Cranberry Sauce has a certain nostalgia to it because the can-shaped log of clear cranberry juice made an appearance of many of our Thanksgiving tables growing up. While whole berry cranberry sauce seems to be a bit more popular these days (especially amongst foodies and food bloggers), you have to admit that the jellied sauce tastes pretty darn good when you slice it up despite its less-than-gourmet appearance.

For a homemade version, I blended together the idea of a sliceable sauce with a whole berry sauce and made my own Homemade Cranberry Jelly. This jelly starts off with fresh cranberries and cranberry juice and is held together with just enough gelatin to make sure that the jelly will hold its shape when you turn it out of the mold. It is sweet-tart and has a great fresh cranberry flavor. While it doesn’t have the nostalgic element that canned cranberry jelly has, it looks beautiful when plated and is easy to slice and serve.

I used a loaf pan to mold my cranberry jelly, but if you have a small decorative ring mold, you can make your jelly look even more spectacular.

Homemade Cranberry Jelly
12-ounces whole, fresh cranberries (frozen are ok)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cranberry juice, divided
1/4-oz gelatin powder (1 packet)

Lightly grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan or a small ring mold.
In a medium sauce pan, combine cranberries, sugar and 1/2 cup cranberry juice. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-10 minutes, until berries are popping and mixture is beginning to thicken. Remove from heat.
In a microwave-safe measuring cup, combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cranberry juice. Heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds, until gelatin is dissolved. Add gelatin mixture and remaining 1/2 cup cranberry juice to cranberry mixture and stir well. Pour into prepared pan.
Refrigerate overnight, or until gelatin is firm.
Slid a spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen jelly and turn out onto a serving platter.

Serves 8