
Trust me. If I have a can of cranberry jelly in front of me, it will
disappear before the gravy makes it half way around the table. My kids
enjoy it as well, so I decided this year to do the family a favor and
bring a tasty, but low sugar alternative to the Thanksgiving meal. The
key is replacing about half of the sugar in the jelly instead of doing
without. Not only is this recipe healthier, but it tastes wonderful as
well. Of course, as with many projects in my kitchen these days, I
recruited my daughters to lend a hand.
Thanksgiving Prep

The girls started by selecting a large pot and our cheese cloth
strainer from the cupboard. I always use this time to teach my girls to
keep good cleaning habits, so I had them wash out the gear before we got
started. A cheese cloth strainer is a handy tool to have in the
kitchen, and if you need to locate one, I suggest trying your browsing
skills at your local
Goodwill Store first before buying a
brand new one off the shelf.
A Healthy Cook Up

My oldest added 5 cups of
cranberries
(about twenty-four ounces) and 1/4 cup of water. I turned on the stove
to a medium heat, and after five minutes, used a potato masher to pulp
the cranberries until the juice was freed. This gave us about 3-4 cups
of juice. At this point, I cranked up the heat to high, and once the
berries were at a rapid boil for one minute, turned off the stove. I
helped my five-year-old pour the berries through the cheese cloth to
separate the pulp, then returned the juice to the pot on a medium heat.
We kept the pulp for relish because, as my six-year-old noted, "Some
people might like the mash." What a thoughtful kid.
Adding the Sweetener

For this size batch, we wanted to use two cups of sweetener. One cup was
all white sugar, but we had a choice for the second. Either we could
use organic honey, which is a more complex sugar but still a healthier
alternative, or a
stevia product. Stevia is an herbal extract from the South American plant of
the same name, and can be found commercially in products such as
Truvia. We had a package, so we decided to go that route. Before adding the cup of sugar, the girls mixed it with a package of
no-sugar pectin
which is a natural extract from apples and can be found at any grocery
store. This helps the jelly set properly. The two were premixed to avoid
clumping, as uncut pectin is prone to do, then poured into the hot
cranberry juice. After it dissolved, the girls added the cup of Truvia. I
brought the heat back up and let the mixture return to a rapid boil
while I stirred away.
For this size batch, we wanted to use two cups of sweetener. One cup
was all white sugar, but we had a choice for the second. Either we could
use organic honey, which is a more complex sugar but still a healthier
alternative, or a
Setting the Cranberry Jelly

Once the mixture had boiled for about ten minutes, I removed it from
the heat. The girls had a brief, though animated discussion at this
point concerning what mould we would use. My six-year-old wanted to use
our snowman, while my five-year-old wanted to use the
Christmas tree mould.
The argument was averted when I pointed out neither of the moulds were
large enough for all of our mix, so we would do well to use both. Once I
filled the moulds with the hot jelly, they were placed in the fridge to
cool, ready for a harvest supper. The 'mashed' berries were frozen for
Thanksgiving to make a cranberry relish with oranges and cinnamon.
The Recipe
24 Ounces Cranberries
1 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1 Cup Truvia (or honey)
1 Package No-Sugar Pectin
1/4 Cup Water
Bring the water and cranberries to a boil as described, then mash and
strain. Return the juice to the pot and bring to a rolling boil, adding
in the sugar, no-sugar pectin, and Truvia. After the mixture has boiled
for 10 minutes, pour into moulds and pop into the refrigerator. The
jelly is set and ready to serve after a two hours.
Comments