Name: Apricot-Ginger Cranberry Sauce
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Serves 12 (Makes 3 cups)
Cuisine: US & Canada
Ingredients: 1/2 cup water; 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped fine; 1/4 cup sugar; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1 1/2 cups apricot preserves; 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries, picked through (see note); 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Why This Recipe Works

We thought the standard back-of-the-bag cranberry sauce recipe needed some jazzing up, so we tried adding powdered ginger and apricot preserves to our cooked cranberries. While the flavors of this cranberry sauce recipe were indeed promising, the texture was a runny, sugary mess. To correct the loose texture, we cooked the preserves, berries, sugar, and water down until the mixture thickened. Chopped dried apricots improved both the taste and the texture of the sauce, while grated ginger—stirred in at the end of cooking—gave our Apricot-Ginger Cranberry Sauce a clean and spicy bite. A shot of cayenne pepper rounded out the heat.

Before You Begin

Frozen cranberries may be used instead of fresh.

Instructions

Bring water, apricots, sugar, salt, cayenne, and apricot preserves to boil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add cranberries and simmer until slightly thickened and two-thirds of berries have popped open, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger, transfer to serving bowl, and cool completely. Serve. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)