Home “Canned” Cranberry Sauce Made in a Tin Can Mold
This little fish-shaped dish is my family’s cranberry sauce server. It is simply the perfect size for a can of cranberry jelly. I grew up with a clear glass one that my mom still has and a few years ago, when I found this milk glass version at a thrift store for $1.50, I snatched like it was the most valuable thing in the store. To me, it was.
The only wrinkle in this tradition is the fact that I gave up commercially made cranberry sauce a few years ago. I make so many preserves that it seemed silly to continue to buy this particular one. What’s more, most of the store bought stuff is made with high fructose corn syrup, a substance I try to avoid when possible.
So this year, I decided to do something a little silly in order to satisfy my desire to slide a can-shaped tube of cranberry sauce into my little fish dish. I made a batch from scratch and molded it into the can shape using BPA-free cans. I searched out a neutral-tasting food so that the cans wouldn’t impart any additional flavor to the jelly (these cannellini beans were perfect and tasted so good in a batch of sausage and kale soup). I also made sure to find a can that had a flat bottom, so that I could use a can opener on it in the event that the jelly was hesitant to exit the can.
I made a very basic cranberry jelly. Combine 5 cups whole cranberries with 3 cups granulated white sugar, 1 cup apple cider and the juice of 1 lemon in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and cook until the cranberries burst, stirring regularly. If it begins to look too thick, add a splash more water.
Fit a food mill with its finest screen. When cranberries are finished cooking, pour them into the bowl of the food mill and work them through. You could also use a fine mesh sieve and a rubber scraper if you don’t have a food mill. Continue to mill the cranberries until all that remains in the bowl of the food mill is seeds and skins.
Set a wide mouth funnel into your well-cleaned cans and scrape the warm cranberry sauce into the can, leaving a bit of space at the top.
Cover the filled cans with foil or plastic wrap and place them the fridge to set. If you can, give them at least 12 hours of chilling for optimum molding.
Just before you’re ready to serve, gather your equipment. Can of molded cranberry sauce. Butter knife. Can opener. And the all-important fish dish.
Carefully slide the butter knife down along the side of the cranberry jelly and run it in a complete circle to loosen. Take care when you to this so you don’t end up slicing all the can ridges off the jelly. They are part of the joy. Once the sauce has been loosened, invert the can into your dish and give it a little wiggle.
Sometimes the jelly begins to slide out immediately. If it remains stuck, use the can opener to crack the vacuum by beginning to take the bottom off the can. I’ve found that you don’t have to remove it all the way, even just a little bit of air in there helps move things along. Gently slide the cranberry sauce out onto your plate.
Serve with pride, knowing that you’ve managed to maintain a family tradition while sticking to your culinary guns. And, should you be curious, this cranberry jelly recipe is also appropriate for funneling into glass jars and processing in a boiling water bath canning. Ten minutes for pints and half pints will more than do.
Related Posts:
aluminum can mold, cranberry sauce, Thanksgiving
111 Responses to Home “Canned” Cranberry Sauce Made in a Tin Can Mold
[…] out this ingenious solution from Food in Jars. She used empty BPA free cans as molds for homemade cranberry sauce. Looks just like the […]
This is both insane and awesome. I definitely understand the appeal of the can rings, though. I used to measure my portion of the cranberry sauce by the number of rings.
Haha! Love this.
[…] Home Canned Cranberry Sauce – Use this recipe and these instructions to make your homemade cranberry sauce look like the store bought canned stuff. One way to get people to eat homemade. lol You can eat it without going through the canning process. […]
Do you suppose you could do this with dried cranberries when you can’t get fresh? Does drying them affect the pectin, do you think?
Hope this isn’t a dupe — dropped my connection in mid-post.
Just made it! Didn’t have any cans to use, but poured into a jelly jar glass, a pint jar and a half pint jar. We’ll see what happens! What I tasted was AWESOMELY DELICIOUS! I cannot wait to put this on the table tomorrow!!! Thanks Marisa! You never fail me! Have a happy Thanksgiving!!!
Thank you! Made this tonight and it tastes great plus I love the tin can molding idea; you’re so clever
Happy Thanksgiving!
My brother has made fun of my Thanksgiving food choices for 10 years now. I’ve been a vegetarian all that time, and only last year found a turkey substitute that he thought was worth eating. (Field Roast’s Celebration Roast, in case you were wondering.) He scoffed at the idea of my bothering to make my own cranberry sauce, as we all like the canned stuff. After a taste this evening as I was cleaning up? “Not bad.” High praise indeed.
Lol, one of the first preserves I foisted on my husband was a homemade cranberry sauce. The whole berry ones didn’t past muster, but he is happy enough to eat a jellied of any shape so long as its just berries and sugar and water/juice.
Which makes more for me, and I’ve made 4 recipes alone to test out which I like best. Canned for sharing with others.
I’m listening for my last ‘ping’ for some 1/4 pints of cranberry orange marmaladeish stuff – I noticed that I was a little heavy handed on the sugar and it was setting up this morning after I cooked it, so after I dished up for the table (a cut glass oval dish in our family), I set the rest of the pan aside in the fridge. Just heated everything up again and did five little jars of thanksgiving yumminess as I was setting up the crock pot for turkey stock.
I’ll have to try the more “jelly” like version next year – I can totally see doing this presentation just to mess with the family.
Ha! So mine didn’t set (was just barely jiggly so I poured into a pretty glass serving bowl) but it still turned out great because the two ten-year old boys at our table were crazy for it. In fact, after dipping one forkful of turkey after another into it, they called it “turkey blood”! Lots of laughs — and for me, the reminder that a recipe doesn’t have to turn out perfectly to be appreciated. Thanks for the laughs, both for your fish dish and the turkey blood!
This made the best cranberry sauce I’ve ever made, and went straight into the favorite recipes folder! THANK YOU!
That is simply adorable. How whimsical and wonderful!
[…] also tried to make homemade canned cranberry sauce with the ridges and everything, like G.’s childhood. But we reduced it WAY too much and […]
I love that you made it in a can! I did homemade jellied cranberry sauce a few years back but used mini jello molds. Cute but I missed the can ripples.
I did this for Thanksgiving. I made mine without apple cider and added in some ginger root… but same idea. Passed it through the food mill. Poured it in a can that used to hold white beans. Brought it to a feast.
It was AMAZING. Delicious, easy to slice for sandwiches, a conversation starter… Just perfect. Thanks for the idea!