Pineapple-Rum-Cranberry Sauce
Who doesn't love cranberry sauce? Truth be told, me. It wasn't my favorite part of the traditional turkey day and frankly, I had to work with some pretend cranberry sauce in a 5th grade play and it literally left a bad taste in my mouth.Fast forward to grown-up life and my husband and I doing Thanksgiving dinner. Well, he cooks the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and just about everything else. I wanted to contribute and went to look for a cranberry sauce that had a little something extra to it. This recipe, based on one from Good Housekeeping, is a home run all the way. The extra sweetness from the pineapple mixed with the faint hint of rum and cinnamon makes this a recipe I have to double and triple every year to keep up with demand.
This year I mixed it up a little by switching out our regular dark rum for our new favorite Monkey Rum which is spiced. Mmmm..good choice by me! I love it with the Monkey Rum and can't wait to have everyone try it. Wanna try some rum for yourself? Check out the website here http://monkeyrum.com/
Enjoy!
Pineapple-Rum-Cranberry Sauce
1 (20oz) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained with juice set aside for another use
1 cup sugar
1-2 sticks cinnamon
1 bag cranberries (picked over and rinsed)
1/4 cup dark rum or spiced rum (no, not both)
In a 4-qt saucepan, heat sugar, cinnamon and 1/2 cup water over high heat until liquid is a golden amber color, swirl pan occasionally. Have other ingredients ready to roll.
Once liquid is a golden amber, quickly add the cranberries, pineapple and rum. The mixture will hiss and snap at you and generally sound irritated. Ignore that and the hard clumpy mess that is developing. Turn the heat down to low and cook for another 10-12mins, with an occasional stir to break up the softening mass.
When the cranberries are mostly popped and you see a background of dark red, use a masher to gently break up the pineapple and berries. Do not over mash, some remnants of the sweet pineapple is desireable!
Spoon into bowl, cool and let sit for 2-4 hours or refrigerate until needed.
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| Gather ingredients |
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| Ripe cranberries are hard and even bounce! Throw away anything soft |
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| Sugar water and cinnamon stick |
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| Note the color, this is what you want. Have next step ready! |
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| Caution - it will spit out some hot juice and water when everything is added |
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| About 10-12mins later, this is what it should look like. Very jelly! |
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| This is one batch, and I usually at least double it |
*If doubling the recipe, I recommend two batches done separately.
