It just isn’t Thanksgiving without Cranberry Sauce. Some years I make the whole berry sauce recipe printed on the bags of fresh cranberries; other years I grit my teeth and buy a can of jellied canned sauce. But, I have vague food memories a wonderful smooth homemade Cranberry Sauce that was served at Thanksgiving gatherings when I was a small child.
So, I was thrilled to find a classic smooth Cranberry Sauce recipe in a hundred-year-old magazine. The Cranberry Sauce contained tiny bits of cranberries, and was a delightful blend of sweet and sour.
And, here is the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Classic Cranberry Sauce
4 cups cranberries
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (scant 1/2 cup) water
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
Wash cranberries, then place cranberries and water put in a saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium high heat. Stir in the baking soda, then reduce heat and simmer until the berries have softened and burst (5-7 minutes). Skim any froth that rises to the top while cooking. Remove from heat, and press through a sieve. (I used a Foley mill.) Place the pulp in a clean pan and stir in the sugar. (The berry skins should be discarded.) Cook until the mixture begins to boil while stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and put the cranberry sauce in the serving dish. Cool in refrigerator at least 3 hours before serving. Once the sauce is cooled, it should be covered to prevent a thick “skin” from forming on the top.
(Cook’s note: Today many cranberries are sold in 12 ounce bags – which is 3 cups of cranberries. If using one 12-ounce bag of cranberries, make three- fourths of this recipe. This would mean using a little less than 1/3 cup water, 3/8 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 1/2 cups sugar.)
A Hundred Years Ago 
Oooh thank-you for sharing!
You’re welcome. The cranberry sauce is yummy.
😋😋💕
We always had the jellied sauce when I was a kid, but in past years, I’ve come to prefer this gem of a recipe. It will last in the fridge a good while.
Finely grind one bag raw cranberries and one whole navel orange. Add as many chopped, toasted pecans as you like (I use about one cup). Stir in 1/3 cup honey.
You’re done! It’s not only a great relish, you can stir some into muffins, etc.
That was my favourite cranberry relish/sauce.
mmm . . . your recipe sounds wonderful.
Sounds good and simple! I kick it up a notch by adding Grand marnier and a little orange zest in one recipe. The other recipe I have is more “kid-friendly” and I make it in a pineapple mold – very pretty.
Two great Cranberry Sauce recipes!
Baking soda. Hmm. Who knew.
Your comment led me to google “cranberry sauce baking soda.” According to The Daily Meal, “When making cranberry sauce, use a little bit of baking soda to reduce the acidity.”
My chemistry background says that makes good sense.
This ones going in my recipe file for sure.
I think that you’ll enjoy this recipe.
This recipe is really interesting, I love that it has baking soda in it!
I enjoy seeing the ingredient lists in old recipes.
me too………so interesting.
Thanks Sheryl, I’ll have to try this one. I have a similar sauce in my distant memory, but mom never wrote it down. Can’t wait to try it!
I think that you’ll like this recipe.
Interesting find! I love how velvety it is. I never added baking soda to the sauce. I’ll give it a try.
I think that the purpose of the baking soda is to reduce the acidity of the Cranberry Sauce. This results in the sauce being a little less tart.
I got curious so I read about it and you’re right. But I actually like it tart I guess I will skip it.
One thing I remember is making new additions to cranberry sauces. Thanks to you. Sheila
One of my favorite parts of cooking is tweaking recipes to make them better suit my family’s preferences and tastes.
Baking soda??? How interesting! I’m going to try it this year.
According The Spruce Eats, “There is no getting around it—cranberries are tart. One way cooks counteract this is to add sugar to the recipes . . . If you’d rather not increase the sugar content, you can add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda when cooking cranberries to help neutralize the acid.”
I’m in!
Made it this morning!
Enjoy!
😋 oh how I wish I could spoon some of that sauce out of the photo! Going to have to try this! Ps.. I still do the prune and cranberries recipe you posted some time back.
Wow, thanks for reminding me of that recipe. It was a really good one, but I haven’t made it recently. I posted that recipe back in 2015. I may have to make it again this year. It’s been wonderful to get to know you over the years via our blogs.
Here’s the link in case other readers want to check the recipe out: Cranberries with Prunes
Oh my, I would have never guessed it was that far back.. It was your grandma, and that diary, that brought us together.😊
Those were good years. I really enjoyed sharing my grandmother’s diary, and the comments you and other readers made really helped me better understand my grandmother and her times. And, I got to meet wonderful people like you.
While I will stick with my old recipe, I am glad to see Foley mill mentioned. I still have mine from my jam making days 50 years ago.
Foley Mills are so useful. My Foley mill is also 40 or 50 years old. For some reason my mother had two Foley mills. Shortly after I got married she gave me one of them. I think that there recently has been renewed interest in Foley Mills. I recently saw them featured in a display at a Williams Somona store.
Wow. I bet they now cost an arm and a leg if they are at Williams Sonoma.
Gosh, I wish I could get fresh cranberries in Australia. Occasionally I find frozen.
I’m often surprised at which foods that are commonly available in the U.S are not available in Australia.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will give it a try! I have my grandmother’s hand-written cookbook from 100 years ago. It is so precious to me!
I think that you’ll enjoy this recipe. You are so fortunate to have your grandmother’s handwritten cookbook.
My mother has a recipe that calls for 1/2 c. beet juice to give it better color in place of the water…
I never would have thought of using beet juice instead of water when making Cranberry Sauce. I bet that the sauce is a really intense red.
Last week I made a double batch of cranberry sauce from the recipe you posted last year. Everyone is pleased to know they have it to look forward to.
It’s wonderful to hear that you are making that recipe again this year. Thanks for letting me know. It is definitely a winner.
Here’s the link in case other readers want to check the recipe out: Spiced Cranberries
Very interesting sauce recipe. The baking soda is an interesting addition.
I believe that the purpose of the baking soda was to neutralize some of the acid in the cranberries, and to make the sauce a little less tart.
Hello Cheryl and happy Thanksgiving! I’ve never much cared for cranberry sauce, but I might like this smooth version, especially homemade. It’s worth a try. Thanks for sharing!
Similarly to you, I didn’t care much for Cranberry Sauce when I was young. It has grown on me over the years, and I really enjoy it now.
Sounds like another winner for the holiday feasts or any feast of the year.
The Cranberry Sauce is tasty.
I always hated cranberry sauce, because the only kind I had ever tried was the canned stuff. Once I discovered the real thing, I changed my mind. And this recipe looks delicious!
I agree with you. There is no comparison between homemade cranberry sauce and the canned stuff. I’m a bit befuddled how the canned sauce ever because such a popular part of many family Thanksgiving traditions. (I need to fess up that I served canned Cranberry Sauce for many years. Not sure any more why I did that. There are numerous cranberry sauce recipes out there that are very easy to make.)