So, my cranberry sauce did not gell.

A

amanda_pennsylvania

Well-known member
I have no idea why, as I've been using the same recipe for 30 years (Ocean Spray on the back of the package). In any case, I have quite a lot of un-gelled cranberry sauce left. Any idea about what I can do with it?

 
I had the same problem - you might not have cooked it long enough...

This is from the Ocean spray website:

Why won’t my cranberry sauce gel?

Boiling is critical to release pectin, the key gelling ingredient, from the cranberry. You must cook the sauce for at least 10 minutes at a full boil for the pectin to react with the sugar and create the proper gelled texture. It is also important to let the cranberry sauce cool at room temperature. Moving it to the refrigerator too soon may also affect the gel.

Hub made a turkey for his office last week, and I made the cranberry sauce. I put in in a pretty mold, but when he went to turn it out, it was way too soft, so it didn't hold the shape of the mold. It was still edible, it just didn't look pretty.

So I searched the web, and found that to get a mold-abke sauce, you have to boll it for ten minutes, and you have to let it cool before refrigerating. (boil for five minutes for a softer set.)

I also saw another site that said you had to cook it to 167 degrees. I did all of that, and it came out of the mold perfectly on the real Thanksgiving day! I'm going to write myself a note, and leave it in the mold, so that I remember it for next year!

 
Yes- my bet is that it didn't cook long enough or you didn't bring it to a boil.

I don't think cooking it longer after refrigerating it will do the trick so I'd suggest adding some Jello or gelatin to it.

 
If you have an ice cream maker, you can make Cranberry Sorbet, and adjust the amount of water

accordingly.

 
This is delicious - have made it many times - also posted in T&T: Cranberry Swirl Coffeecake

Note: This calls for cranberry sauce, which obviously would be thicker than yours, so I don't know if the thinner consistency would affect the cake or not. If there's any excess liquid, drain it off before using.

CRANBERRY SWIRL COFFEECAKE

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream (I use nonfat plain yogurt)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup of fresh cranberry sauce, (recommended) - to make the sauce, follow the directions on any package of fresh cranberries), OR one 8-ounce can of whole cranberry sauce {I use freshly made cranberry sauce}

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). (*Decrease the temperature by 25 degrees if using dark pan.). Grease and flour one 9 or 10 inch tube pan. (I use a 10-inch)
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs just until well blended.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With mixer running, (lower the mixer speed), add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream or yogurt to the butter mixture until just blended. Do not overmix! Stir in the almond extract and mix only until just combined. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Swirl 1/2 of the cranberry sauce into the batter. Repeat, ending with the batter on top.
4. Bake about 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Let cool in pan on wire rack about 10 minutes. Cut around edge of the cake to loosen, then turn out and let cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 1 - 9 or 10 inch tube pan (12 servings).

Adapted from Allrecipes

http://www.recipezaar.com/Coffee-Cake-With-Cranberry-Swirl-14125

 
Thanks, all. I think I'll try to boil it down more and see what happens.

Although I'm tempted to bake Meryl's coffeecake, too. I do have more house guests coming tomorrow...

 
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