This recipe was totally inspired by a recipe I saw on Williams Sonoma. It grabbed my attention for two reasons. 1) I loved the presentation! Using mini bundt pans was genius (and oh so pretty) and 2) no matter how many variations of cranberry sauce I make (and I always make different ones around the holidays), my mother craves the canned, jelly version we had while I was growing up. I swore once I started entertaining, that I would never served canned cranberry sauce…nothing wrong with it (I always have an emergency can in the pantry.) but I wanted to make my own unique variations like my Cranberry Cherry Sauce and my Cranberry Orange Sauce. So, when I saw a beautiful presentation of a jellied version, I decided to give it a try.
As usual, I couldn’t leave good enough alone and swapped in pomegranate juice for half the water to make it my own. Honestly, cranberries and pomegranates are a perfect match and I loved the flavor combo.
My version makes about 1 1/2 mini bundt molds. So I usually make one full one for the Thanksgiving table, and a shorter one that I serve during the week with leftovers. I also love using that left over jelly in other recipes like dip, sandwich spread and as a glaze on my Holiday Meatballs. You can grab the other recipes in my Left Over Holiday Food Recipes Magic post. Don’t have mini bundt pans? No worries. Use mini custard cups or fun molds you can find at crafts stores.
I found these pretty easy to remove from the molds if you make the water bath very hot and carefully run your knife around the edge. Be sure you don’t cut into the jelly or you’ll ruin the presentation. Also, be sure to spray the molds really well with the cooking spray. I like to use a really light tray or board to do the flipping and remember, you can use a spatula to move the jellied molds to the final presentation platter.
By the way, everyone loved this and it was just an upgraded version of the jelly in the can so everyone was happy.
BONUS RECIPE
There was no way I was throwing out all those cooked cranberry solids. So, I tossed them in a bowl with a couple of tablespoons of horseradish sauce and mixed it up. You get the most fabulous sandwich spread ever. It is sweet and tart with a bit of bite. This is perfect on left over turkey sandwiches and wraps.
FYI: Another way you can use the left over cranberry solids is to mix it with mayonnaise or yogurt for a fun dipping sauce. Both of these are great served with chicken fingers!
If you are reading about jellied cranberry sauce you are probably checking out Thanksgiving recipes so don’t miss my Turkey Sausage, Apple and Sage Dressing, my Roasted Rosemary and Pomegranate Pears and Onions and my Roasted Crispy Parmesan Potatoes side dishes. All of these are perfect for the holiday feast. Enjoy.
Jellied Cranberry & Pomegranate Sauce
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Cranberries, fresh
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1 Orange zest strip
- 1/2 Cup Pomegranate juice
- 3/4 Cup Cold water
- 1 Packet of unflavored gelatin
- Fresh pomegranate seeds and orange slices to garnish platter (optional)
FOR BONUS RECIPE
- 1-2 Tbsp. Horseradish Sauce
Instructions
- Spray two mini bundt pan wells with cooking spray and put to the side.
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest strip and one-half cup of water and one-half cup of pomegranate juice and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have burst. (About 10 minutes.) Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Meanwhile, pour 1/4 cup cold water into a medium bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin; do not stir. Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes, then stir to combine. It will be thick.
- Pour the cranberry-pomegranate mixture through a mesh sieve into a measuring cup. Press down on the solids to extract as much juice as possible. Put the cranberry solid mixutre to the side for a bonus recipe below.
- Pour the liquid cranberry-pomegranate juice into the gelatin mixture. Stir until combined.
- Pour the cranberry-pomegranate mixture into the 2 prepared mini bundt pans. Note: you’ll get about 1 1/2 of the molds filled. So either fill one to the top (for presentationn purposes) or both about 3/4 of the way full. Refrigerate for 1 hour, gently stir halfway through the hour. Then, leave in the fridge without stirring until set. I leave them over night. So making them the day before or several days before Thanksgiving is great.
- To unmold the cranberry-pomegranate sauce, dip the bundt pan in a large baking dish or bowl of warm water so the water reaches almost to the rim, taking care not to get any water in the wells. Let stand for 30 seconds, then remove the pan from the water and carefully run a small paring knife around the edges of the wells to loosen. Place a serving platter on top of the pan, invert the platter and mold together and gently lift the mold off the cranberry sauce. If the cranberry-pomegranate sauce doesn’t release, return the mini bundt pan to the warm water for another 30 seconds and try again.
- I like to present the cranberry-pomegranate mold on a plate with scattered pomegranate and orange slices. Let your guests slice a piece of cranberry-pomegranate jelly and Enjoy!
