This is as simple as it gets.  To prove my theory, I had my 8 year old make it beginning to end tonight!  This, my most successful cranberry sauce, is made by following the package instructions and then adding zest, juice and some segments of an orange.  You probably have noticed I add orange to many recipes, but in this case the combination of cranberry and orange is classic.

Tart and sweet make this a lovely balance and you can make it smooth or chunky depending on your tastes.  But you don’t need to serve that cranberry sauce that looks like a red can on the plate!

 

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 bag cranberries

zest of one orange

juice and segments of one orange

Heat the water and sugar until boiling in a large pot, stirring occasionally.   While the water is heating, zest the orange and cut it in half.  For one half of the orange squeeze out the juice, for the other half I cut off the rind and cut the flesh into little orange segments.

Once the water is starting to boil, add in the cranberries, zest, juice and orange pieces.  Heat until boiling while stirring frequently, once the boil starts set a timer for 10 minutes.

Tip:  Stand back and have the kids stand back, the cranberries start to split and pop and spurt out hot juice!  It is a fun show actually

After 10 minutes you can pour the chunky sauce into a bowl or use a strainer to make it a smooth sauce.

 

I split the sauce in two potions, and one I keep chunky and the other I make smooth by smashing through a strainer.  My family is split on how they like it. The chunky one is almost like a chutney, would taste nice with some other fruit chunks in there.