Multi-Fruit, Tropical, Cranberry Sauce with Fermented Option
Servings: 50 (2 1/2–3 quarts)
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 bags fresh cranberries, rinsed, washed, and inspected
- 2 oranges, washed, zested, peeled, and cut into chunks
- 3 pears, ripe but not overripe, washed and cored
- 2 small raw beets, scrubbed, not peeled
- 5 slices fresh ginger root, or 1 tablespoon ginger powder
- 2 sweet crisp apples (Gala, Fuji, Yellow Delicious, Honeycrisp, not Granny Smith or Red Delicious), washed and cored
- 3/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) papaya
- 1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) pineapple
- 2 cups dried fruit (raisins, dates, prunes, apricots, etc.)
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 10 cloves, ground, makes about 1 teaspoon
- 1/4 whole nutmeg, grated, makes about 1/2 teaspoon
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons liquid whey, optional
Directions:
Using a food processor for all steps, first process the cranberries in 2 batches to a fine mince; transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Wash and zest 2 oranges and add zest into the bowl. Then peel, roughly chop, and process the oranges; add to bowl.
Process 3 pears to a chunky sauce; add to mixing bowl. Mix immediately to let the orange juice prevent oxidation (browning). Fresh stevia leaves may be processed and added at this step, optional.
Process beets and ginger to a fine mince; add to bowl and mix. (If you’re using dried ginger powder, add it directly to the bowl.)
Process 2 apples to a fine mince; add to bowl and mix.
Add shredded coconut to bowl; mix. If you have only coconut chips or coconut flakes, grind these in the food processor until they’re small.
Process papaya and pineapple to small chunks/sauce. If both are raw or frozen, you can do them together. Otherwise, process fresh/frozen individually.
Process dried fruit to a thick paste. If it’s too thick to process, add back into the processor one quarter cup of what’s already in the mixing bowl to thin it down.
Add cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to the bowl. Allspice and cardamom also work well, if preferred.
Stir in molasses; mix well.
Add sweetener of choice, either raw honey or maple syrup, to taste.
Transfer contents of mixing bowl to glass jars and refrigerate.
Serve chilled.
Optional fermentation step:
Add in 2 tablespoons liquid whey. This can be strained from (non-Greek) yogurt, using a cheesecloth. Mix well.
Transfer cranberry sauce to jars. Cap loosely, set on plates or in bowls (in case of any overflow), and leave in a shaded corner of your counter top for 1–2 days.
The friendly bacteria from the whey will proliferate in the cranberry sauce, pre-digest it slightly, produce lots of additional vitamins, and preserve it from any pathogenic bacteria. Plus, the flavors marry better while it sits.
After a day or two, tighten caps and transfer jars to refrigerator. Cranberry sauce thus preserved will keep for many months.
Ben from Winchester, Virginia, won $50 for this recipe and photo! Submit your recipes and photos here!
