jar of cranberry orange marmalade

Cranberry Sauce | Jelled

 

Cranberry Sauce (Jellied) is a low-sweetener cooked sauce made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.

Notes

Storage Options: If you don’t want to process the cranberry sauce in a boiling water bath, you can put it in the refrigerator once it is cooled and it will keep for 3 weeks. You can also freeze the sauce instead of canning it. For freezing, fill jars to ½” of top. Defrost in refrigerator before eating.
Servings 3 cups

Ingredients

  • Cranberry Pulp Ingredients:
  • 12 ounce package of cranberries
  • cups of water
  • Jelly Ingredients:
  • 2 cups pulpy cranberry juice
  • 1 teaspoon calcium water see step #1
  • zest + juice from 1 orange optional
  • ½ cup honey or 1 cup sugar
  • teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin
  • ½ cup sugar

Instructions

  • Before You Begin, prepare calcium water.
    To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.
    Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
  • Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
  • Bring package of cranberries and water to a boil then simmer, covered on low until the cranberries burst and soften. Put mixture through a Foley Mill or strainer to remove skins.
  • Measure and place pulpy cranberry juice into sauce pan.
  • Add calcium water and orange juice + zest (if using) and mix well.
  • Measure room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into honey. Set aside.
  • Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-honey mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.
  • After the pectin is dissolved, add the ½ cup sugar and stir well while the sauce comes back up to a boil. Once the sauce returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
  • Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.

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21 Responses

  1. Carrie
    | Reply

    My hubby likes the harder gelled sauce that comes out of the can looking like… well, the can! LOL So I want one I can process and then remove from the can and slice.. Tried without pectin and couldn’t get it to the right gelling point apparently. Suggestions for pectin?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Carrie,

      You will likely need to increase the pectin in this recipe to 3 teaspoons, in order to get the much firmer gel.

      • Carrie
        | Reply

        Thank you for the response. I made a triple batch & appropriately tripled all the ingredients. It was better than my last attempt but still not quite “gelled” enough. I use cane juice crystals and almost thought it was too sweet, though my family thought the flavor was OK. I canned 2 of the jars; the 3rd one wasn’t quite full enough so we ate that after it cooled. It’s possible the 2 jars I canned are a bit more gelled.We will soon find out! I could actually slice this one but the slices started to lose their shape after a bit. I’ll keep trying!

  2. Jennifer
    | Reply

    Is the pectin necessary for preserving this recipe for canning? My recipe for sauce is almost identical to this and jells reliably without the pectin (although I haven’t dared can it to be shelf stable- I just keep it in the fridge and make small batches).

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      The pectin does not add a preserving quality to the sauce, though we have not tested a batch’s consitency without the addition of the pectin.

  3. Mona Dixon
    | Reply

    How would adopt this recipe for whole berry cranberry sauce?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      You could simply cook the cranberries until soft and slightly bursting, then proceed with the recipe, omitting the Foley mill. You will also reduce the pectin by 1/2 teaspoon.

  4. Julie
    | Reply

    Do I have to use the full Amount of sugar or can I use less? If so how little of sugar can I use.

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      You can use less! We would suggest no less than 1/4 cup of sugar for this one.

  5. Jessie
    | Reply

    Are sweeteners necessary for canning safety in this recipe? I like my cranberry sauce very tart and am wondering whether it would be safe to reduce the sugar.

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Jessie,

      It is safe, but we do not recommend it.

      *We don’t recommend making jam or jelly with absolutely no sweetener. The final product is likely to be tart and bland. Sweetener, even in a small amount, brings out the flavor of the fruit.

      If you want to try it, however, this is what you do: For 4 cups of mashed fruit or juice, use either ½ cup water or unsweetened fruit juice (if you’re using 2 or 3 teaspoons of pectin) or ¾ cup water or unsweetened fruit juice (if you’re using 4 teaspoons of pectin).

      Make liquid pectin by measuring the correct amount of water or juice into a small sauce pan and bringing it to a boil. Put boiling liquid in cup for immersion blender, or in food processor, or in blender. Add pectin. It is very important to vent the lid (if there is one) to let steam out. Don’t use an enclosed blender that can’t be vented. Blend for 10 seconds, then stop and scrape down the sides so all pectin clumps are in or on the liquid. Blend for a full minute until all powder is totally dissolved.

      Add the liquid pectin to the boiling fruit or juice mixture, which should already contain the calcium water and lemon juice (or lime juice or vinegar) if called for in the recipe. Stir while mixture returns to a full boil. If you taste your jam before jarring and it isn’t sweet enough, you can add however much sweetener you want at this point. Stir well and return mixture to a boil, remove from heat, jar and process according to the recipe sheet that comes with Pomona’s Pectin.

      These instructions are also on the recipe sheet that comes with your box of Pomona’s Pectin

  6. Leslie
    | Reply

    Can I use all honey for this recipe instead of 1/2 cup sugar?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      You sure can! It would be 3/4 cup honey, total.

  7. Judy
    | Reply

    Hi- Is it necessary to run it through a food mill to remove the skins?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      No, that would not be necessary for this recipe. Happy jamming!

  8. Shirley Casciola
    | Reply

    How do you make the pulpy cranberry juice?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Shirley,

      That would be in step 3 😊
      “Bring package of cranberries and water to a boil then simmer, covered on low until the cranberries burst and soften. Put mixture through a Foley Mill or strainer to remove skins.”

  9. Chad
    | Reply

    Could I make this recipe with allulose instead of sugar and honey?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      You sure can!

  10. Monica Strohhaecker
    | Reply

    This recipe contains honey, can i swap it for another 1/2 cup of sugar instead?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      You sure can, it would only be an additional 1/4 cup of sugar though.

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