The red cranberries, about one to two centimeters thick, are real all-rounders. They can be cooked and used in many different ways, and we present some of the best recipes to you here.
How can you preserve cranberries?
Cranberries can be cooked into jam, sauce or jelly. To preserve, you need fresh cranberries, preserving sugar or sugar, water and, if necessary, lemon or orange juice. Boil the cranberries with the ingredients and fill the cooked mixture into prepared jars.
Basic recipe for classic cranberry jam
- 500 grams of fully ripe cranberries
- 250 grams of preserving sugar 2:1
- three to four prepared jam jars
Wash the cranberries carefully and mix them in a pot with the preserving sugar. Bring the mixture to the boil and let it simmer for several minutes until the mixture gels. Then immediately pour into the prepared jars and close the lid airtight. You can vary the basic recipe as you wish and add other fruits and/or alcohol. Cranberry jam also tastes very tasty when combined with pears, cinnamon and amaretto, with sweet apples or in a multi-fruit jam.
Cranberry sauce for savory dishes
Similar to jam, you can also make a cranberry sauce that goes particularly well with savory game or cheese dishes. In this respect, you can use the cranberry in a similar way to cranberries; after all, the heather family is actually related to each other.
500 grams of fresh cranberries
250 grams of sugar
300 milliliters of waterJuice of one lemon
Put the berries with the water in a large pot and let the mixture simmer. After about 10 minutes, add the lemon juice. Only now does the sugar go into the pot. Let the mixture cook for about five minutes, stirring constantly. Then fill them into prepared twist-off jars. By the way, you can also prepare the sauce with 350 milliliters of orange juice instead of water and lemon. Some grated orange peel and a cinnamon stick also fit in there very well. This variant also tastes fantastic as a compote.
Basic cranberry jelly recipe
600 grams of fresh and washed cranberries
900 milliliters of water1000 grams of sugar
Before you prepare the jelly, you first have to get the cranberry juice: To do this, put the berries in the water and cook the mixture for about 15 to 20 minutes. The cranberries should now be very soft. Take a large cheesecloth, fold it once and hang it in a large pot. Place the cooked berries in the cloth and let them drain for about 12 hours. You can then mix the berry juice and sugar, bring to the boil and simmer for another 20 minutes. Now fill the still hot jelly into prepared jars and close them tightly.
Tips & Tricks
The next time you make a Sunday roast and prepare the sauce, why not stir in two spoonfuls of cranberry jelly - it tastes great with almost all meat dishes!
