Our cranberry honey comes from bees that spend the summer pollinating cranberry bogs on Cape Cod and Nantucket. Cooking their honey with the berries they pollinated was an easy call.
This is a cranberry sauce made with honey in place of white sugar, plus orange juice and a stalk of lemongrass. It takes under half an hour, and it’s better made a day or two ahead, which frees up a burner on Thanksgiving.
Honey Cranberry Sauce Recipe
YIELD: About 2 cups
INGREDIENTS
12 ounces fresh cranberries (one standard bag)
½ cup Crystal’s Raw Cranberry Honey, or to taste
1 cup (8 fl oz) water
Juice of 1 orange
1 stalk fresh lemongrass or the zest of 1 lemon
DIRECTIONS
Cut the lemongrass into a few pieces and press each one with the flat of a knife so it releases more flavor. Put it in a medium saucepan with the cranberries, water, orange juice, and honey.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the cranberries start to pop and soften. Turn the heat down and simmer another 10–15 minutes, until the berries break down and the sauce is as thick as you like.
Take out the lemongrass and taste. Stir in more honey if you want it sweeter. Let the sauce cool before serving. It keeps thickening as it cools.
About cooking raw honey
Once honey simmers in the pot, it isn’t raw anymore. If that matters to you, cook the cranberries with just the water, orange juice, and lemongrass. Take the pot off the heat, let it cool until it’s warm, then stir in the honey.
Make it your own
This cranberry sauce recipe with honey is easy to change. Lemongrass gives it a citrusy smell, and orange zest, a cinnamon stick, fresh ginger, star anise, or a splash of rose water all work in its place.
For a sweeter sauce, cook a peeled, diced apple with the cranberries, or stir in a little more honey at the end.
Storage
Make it a day or two before serving and keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Questions
Can I use frozen cranberries?
Yes. Put them in the pot frozen and give them a few extra minutes to pop.
Can I use a different honey?
Yes. Our raw wildflower makes a milder sauce. We like the cranberry honey here because it came from the same bogs.
My sauce looks runny. Did I do something wrong?
Probably not. It thickens a lot as it cools. If it’s still loose once it’s cold, simmer it a few more minutes next time.
My honey crystallized. Can I still use it?
Yes. It melts in the pot. If you’re stirring it in off the heat, soften it first (How to Soften Honey Without Ruining It).
