Skip to main content
Dessert

Cranberry Jelly

A sweet preserve made by boiling cranberries with sugar and water, then straining and setting in a mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Cranberry Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pick over and wash the cranberries, then drain them.

  2. Place the cranberries in the inner vessel of a double boiler and fill the outer vessel with lukewarm water. Cover closely.

Cook and strain

  1. Bring to a boil and keep boiling until the berries are broken and scalding hot.

  2. Strain and press the mixture through a cheesecloth into a clean saucepan, then heat quickly to boiling.

  3. Add the heated sugar and remove from heat as soon as it melts.

Set

  1. When almost cold, pour into a mold that has been wet with cold water.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Cranberries
Provide natural pectin and acid, which help the juice gel into a firm jelly when cooked.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the cooked juice set into a clear, firm jelly.

The step that matters

Removing the sugar mixture from heat promptly. Boiling for too long after the sugar melts can darken the jelly and give it a cooked, overly sweet flavor. Taking the pan off heat as soon as the sugar dissolves keeps the color bright and the flavor fresh.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

White CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipesSpice CakeSpice Cake344 recipes