Thanksgiving Dessert Recipe :: Cranberry Ice Cream - WonkyWonderful (2024)

FAQs

Is cranberry sauce served hot or cold on Thanksgiving? ›

Is cranberry sauce supposed to be hot or cold? Either! Some prefer to have it served fresh and warm, straight out of the pot, while others need it completely cooled down to enjoy the flavours. Personally, we prefer cooled sauce.

Try reducing the sauce down even further so more of the liquid cooks off and the mixture thickens. If that doesn't work, add a thickener like gelatin, pectin or a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch whisked into juice or water). Let the sauce cool before refrigerating to completely set.

There is no wrong way to eat cranberry sauce, especially the jellied variety. Normally, cranberry sauce is a condiment on the side on its own, but there is nothing to stop you from putting it on top of the turkey if you want to.

Cooking with Cranberries. The commonly sold 12-ounce bag contains about 3 cups of cranberries.

Turkey is often dry, salty, and bland, which makes it the perfect partner for something sweet and moist. Cranberries are not overly sweet. Their tartness pairs well with the more bland-tasting turkey. Our palates would be bored by singular tastes.

This side dish has become essential to Thanksgiving menus, whether you opt to buy it (as 76% of Americans do) or make it yourself. It's hard to pinpoint exactly who invented the concept of cranberry sauce. Native Americans have been growing and eating the fruit, which is indigenous to North America, for centuries.

Top with dried or fresh fruits

Sure, you can go all meta with some dried cranberries or sliced fresh raw cranberries, but I also like to think about complementary flavors — dried cherries, dried mulberries, golden raisins, chopped apricots. All work great with cranberry sauce.

Why won't my cranberry sauce gel? Boiling is critical to release pectin, the key gelling ingredient, from the cranberry. You must cook the sauce for at least 10 minutes at a full boil for the pectin to react with the sugar and create the proper gelled texture.

Directions. 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.)

The traditional way of serving jellied cranberry sauce is sliced into rounds. With the column set on its side, slice into ¼-inch thick rounds and then arrange the slices on a serving platter. Serve the slices plain, garnished as desired, or read on for easy upgrades.

Is cranberry sauce supposed to be served cold? ›

Cranberry sauce is also best served after it's cooled, which will thicken it further. If your cranberry sauce is too thick while it's on the stove, then it will be way too thick when you serve it.

Add cranberries to the apples in a crisp. Add chopped fresh cranberries to rice, wild rice and other grains when cooking them for a side dish. Add chopped, fresh cranberries to horseradish and use as a condiment. Add chopped fresh cranberries to muffins.

Cranberry sauce is one of the most important components of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Cranberries are one of the few commercially grown fruits native to the United States.