Taste Test: Cranberry Sauce

Sierra shanghaied nine hungry staffers to test cranberry sauces, as a small but increasing number of growers opt to cultivate these wetland-native berries the organic way--without synthetic pesticides. For a deliciously tart, sweetly organic, or 1950s-style jellied sauce, try one of these winners.

HOMEMADE
Nothing became clearer in this test than the supremacy of homemade sauce. Tasters described the samples as "gorgeous," "fresh," and "delicious" with "dynamic undertones." Homemade sauces made with the same basic ingredients (water, sugar, and frozen cranberries) snagged the top two spots in every category, from flavor to texture and appearance.
BEST BET: Fresh or frozen berries and your favorite recipe.

  WHOLE BERRY 
While other organic entries drew comparisons to cough syrup, a relatively sweet sauce from Tree of Life (with lemon juice and berry concentrates) earned high marks for its tempting appearance and strong cranberry flavor. Ocean Spray's conventional sauce with high-fructose corn syrup scored slightly higher overall but lost points for its texture and appearance.
BEST BET: Tree of Life organic whole-berry cranberry sauce, treeoflife.com. 

JELLIED
Organic jellied sauces flat-out failed. Tasters described them as "grainy" and "nasty" with a "medicinal" aftertaste and an "aggressive lack of texture." Strong cranberry flavors were nowhere to be found. If you must have a jellied, canned sauce and are willing to eat berries from pesticide-treated bogs, stick with conventional kinds until organic sauce makers devise better recipes.
BEST BET: Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce, oceanspray.com.

Share your recipes: We used 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and 10 ounces frozen cranberries for our homemade sauce. What's your favorite cranberry sauce recipe? What secret ingredients to you add to spice things up?

Comments

[Mae]

I love using fresh squeezed orange juice instead of water. It brings out the citrus flavor in the cranberries. You can also cut back on the sugar as the OJ is quite sweet.

[Mike]

I use OJ, too, but I add a teaspoon of orange extract to enhance the orange flavor!

[Jeri]

I replace the water with Pomegranate/Blueberry juice for great flavor & extra antioxidants, I also use Splenda instead of Sugar.

[Sue Knight]

I use the same recipe as yours i.e.1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups fresh cranberries, but I add a teasp. of Spice Islands grated orange peel.

[John D Brown]

Raw Cranberry Delight Thanksgiving 2007
John D Brown

Here is the recipe:
2 Cups raw cranberries (everything is raw)
2 cups Satsumas in sections
Peel of one Satsuma
1/2 cup pitted dates (adjust dates for sweetness)
1/2 mango
1/2 apple
1Tbs grated ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
enough water or apple or orange juice to run the vitamix
Blend until smooth
add 1 tsp psyllium powder and blend lightly
Pour / spoon into serving bowl.
I then garnished with some grated dark chocolate, spearmint leaves, kiwi, satsuma wedges and persimmons.
covered and cooled in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Longer will mellow the cayenne a little.
I like the spiciness. Others may like to cut back a little on that part.
I will do this one again!

* Note: In the past, I have included onions, strawberries, filberts, cinnamon, nutmeg and stevia. Probably other things as well that I don’t remember right now. This is the first one in the 10 or so years I have been making cranberry dish that I have written it down.

[Wilfried Wellens]

For a better taste, replace the water by a good dry red wine

[Shirley Russell]

I like to cut up a nice juicy tangerine into wedges and cook it with my whole berries. The color contrast of the tangerine and cranberry is attractive and the juice of the tangerine gives the blend a little "edge" that cuts the sweetness slightly. Everyone loves it - even the kids!

[Peskime]

Please don't use Splenda in any of your food, it is made from chemicals and is NOT healthy.

[crane trucks]

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